CLEVELAND (AP) Chamique Holdsclaw is returning to form at the perfect time for the Washington Mystics.

Holdsclaw had 18 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Mystics to a 60-54 victory over the Cleveland Rockers on Sunday night - showing no effects of a sprained left ankle that caused her to miss eight games in July.

"My body is aching because this is my first year playing the post and doing all that banging inside," Holdsclaw said. "I want to play a few more meaningful games in the playoffs, though."

Holdsclaw, who also missed a game on Aug. 4 with a mildly sprained right ankle, scored 14 points in the second half. Her 15-foot jumper with 2:53 remaining put Washington ahead to stay at 50-48.

"I realized my team needed me to pick it up and I made a conscious effort to do that," Holdsclaw said. "I was able to create a lot by grabbing rebounds and getting us into the transition game."

Holdsclaw leads the WNBA in rebounding with an 11.7 average.

Washington (17-14) won for just the second time in 10 games. The Mystics, who secured a playoff berth with a win over New York last Thursday, are tied for second place in the Eastern Conference with the Charlotte Sting.

The Mystics play in Charlotte on Tuesday to close the regular season. The winner will earn the second seed and homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Cleveland (10-21) lost its fifth straight and has averaged just 56 points over that span. The Rockers fell to 4-11 at home, where they were 14-2 last season. Six home losses this season have come after Cleveland held a double-digit lead.

Ann Wauters scored 12 points to lead Cleveland, while Chasity Melvin had 10.

"I'm just glad the season is winding down, period," Melvin said. "We didn't make the playoffs. We didn't reach any of our goals. It's been a tough season mentally."

Merlakia Jones of the Rockers became the 13th player in WNBA history to score 2,000 points when she hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds to play. Jones, who finished with five points, was just 2-for-12 from the field as Cleveland shot 26.2 percent (17-for-65).

"You just are not going to win with shooting like that," Rockers coach Dan Hughes said. "We played hard enough and defended well enough to win, but never got anything going offensively."

Washington was able to overcome its poor start, shooting 15-for-29 (52 percent) in the second half.

The Mystics missed nine of their first 10 shots and Cleveland missed 13 of 14 until Jennifer Rizzotti of the Rockers hit a 3-pointer 5:52 into the game for a 5-2 lead.

The Mystics trailed 24-18 at halftime - their lowest first-half total of the season.

Holdsclaw and Murriel Page, who scored 13 points, then sparked Washington's second-half rally.

Page scored seven points and Holdsclaw had six in a 13-5 run that gave the Mystics a 44-43 lead with 8:21 to play.

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