PHOENIX -- Her first shot was a 3-pointer. She made it. Then there was the block and steal, a pair of touch passes for assists, a gorgeous fadeaway 18-foot jumper -- and a 50-foot bank shot at the halftime buzzer.

Diana Taurasi made a smash debut in the WNBA on Thursday night.

The only thing missing was a victory.

The Sacramento Monarchs beat the Phoenix Mercury 72-66, despite Taurasi's 22 points.

"She's awesome," Sacramento coach John Whisenant said. "She has always intrigued me. She has the Bird, Magic and John Stockton ability to see the floor."

Taurasi almost never had to talk about a loss in college. She knows it's different now.

"That's life," she said, "especially when you play in the WNBA, when every team you play is a good team."

Taurasi fouled out with 34.6 seconds left, falling a point shy of the record for a player in her first WNBA game.

"For her first legit game, she did some great things," new Mercury coach Carrie Graf said.

Was she nervous?

"No," Taurasi said without hesitation. "I mean, it's just another basketball game once you throw the ball up for the tip."

The level of competition, though, was not the same.

"It's different," she said, "obviously bigger, faster athletes that could do a lot more things."

Taurasi, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft after leading Connecticut to three consecutive NCAA championships, made seven of 13 shots -- three of six from 3-point range. She also had three blocked shots.

A raucous crowd of 10,493 watched the game, the largest for Phoenix at home since the upper bowl at America West Arena was closed for Mercury games in 2001. Many of them came to see college basketball's player of the year.

"I think that's interesting," Taurasi said. "I mean, whatever it takes to get the people out to the arena like it was tonight. It was great. If it takes one person to discover this great team, I think that's good."

Taurasi played all but 2½ minutes, splitting time between shooting and point guard.

"Obviously her versatility is special," Graf said. "She's special in a lot of ways. We don't want to wear her down by having her carry the ball up the floor, score, pass and then defend a decent player at the other end."

Fellow guard Penny Taylor, an Australian who was the No. 1 pick in the dispersal draft of the defunct Cleveland Rockers, scored 21 in her Mercury debut, making 7-of-9 shots.

Taurasi is the biggest name on a vastly different Mercury team than the one that staggered to an 8-26 record last year. Fifty-five of the team's points were scored by players who weren't on that awful team.

But Phoenix is lacking in height, and was outrebounded by Sacramento 34-23.

"You know we're not the biggest team," said Taurasi, who already has assumed the role of team leader. "That's just the makeup of our team. So we're going to have to make up for it in other ways. I think we'll go back and watch some film and see where we can improve and see how we can get it done on the boards.

"It's going to be a long season if the rebounds keep going that way."

Next up is a return to Connecticut for a nationally televised game that already is sold out. Another big stage for the WNBA's newest star, not that the setting makes any difference.

"I just go out there play hard," she said. "I don't try to change things whether it's on TV or in my front yard. I just go out there and play."