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SEATTLE — Diana Taurasi scored 22 points and played rugged defense on Lauren Jackson to lead the top-seeded Phoenix Mercury over the Seattle Storm 101-84 in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference series Friday night.

Penny Taylor also upstaged Jackson, her fellow Australian and good friend, with 22 points as Phoenix earned its first playoff win since Aug. 27, 1998. The Mercury lost the final two games of that series to Houston, then two straight in the first round in 2000, and hadn't been back to the postseason until Friday.

The Mercury now heads home, where the team was 12-5 this season, for Game 2 on Sunday. Game 3, if necessary, would be Tuesday in Phoenix.

Betty Lennox led Seattle with 23 points. Jackson had 16, eight below her regular-season average, and nine rebounds.

● Liberty 73, Shock 51: In New York, Shameka Christon had 16 points and a franchise playoff-record 15 rebounds to lead New York to a surprising 22-point victory over the defending champion Shock in Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference series.

Janel McCarville and Cathrine Kraayeveld had 13 points apiece for the Liberty, who closed the season with six wins in their last nine games to earn the East's fourth and final postseason berth. New York had runs of 18-0 and 16-0 in the second half to pull away from the Shock.