CLEVELAND — Rushia Brown was playing in Europe earlier this year when she came across Cleveland teammate Ann Wauters and couldn't believe her eyes.
"That's not the same girl I played with last year," Brown said.
Soon, the rest of the WNBA might be saying the same thing.
Wauters scored a career-high 19 points as the Rockers moved into first place in the Eastern Conference with a 65-60 win over the New York Liberty on Thursday night.
"Last year, we handled her one-on-one," New York coach Richie Adubato said. "I thought we could do it again. But she taught us a lesson."
Wauters, who missed Cleveland's first eight games this season while being named MVP in leading her French league team to a title, helped Cleveland win its 14th straight home game and second over the Liberty this season
"I got some space inside," said Wauters, a former No. 1 overall draft pick. "They weren't trying to double me, so I could play them one-on-one. I got some good passes from my teammates and then I just showed my moves."
One of her moves included a little dance at halfcourt after the game as the Rockers celebrated moving a half-game ahead of New York in the standings and snapping the Liberty's six-game winning streak.
Cleveland lost to New York in last season's conference finals, and the Rockers have been near the top of the standings for weeks.
The victory could be crucial for Cleveland if the teams finish the regular season tied. One of the tiebreakers to determine home-court advantage for the playoffs is head-to-head record, and the teams will play just once more on Aug. 4 in New York.
"We try to take it one game at a time, but New York is New York," said Brown, who had 15 points and nine rebounds. "We know that we need to beat them for home-court advantage. Now, we have the tiebreaker and that's real big."
Wauters scored 13 points in the first half and had two key baskets down the stretch when the Rockers held off a New York rally to win their fifth straight.
SPARKS 83, MONARCHS 68: Lisa Leslie had 23 points and 14 rebounds as Los Angeles won its fifth straight road game and ninth straight overall.
Latasha Byears scored 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Tamicka Dixon scored 16 points and DaLisha Milton added 13 for the Sparks, who matched their season-opening nine-game winning streak.
Edna Campbell scored 18 and Yolanda Griffith 16 for the Monarchs, who had their three-game home winning streak snapped.
MERCURY 60, FIRE 58: Trisha Fallon's layup with 0.7 seconds remaining lifted host Phoenix past Portland.
The Mercury's Jennifer Gillom, who had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, suffered a low-grade concussion and was removed from the court in a wheelchair after taking an elbow in the face from Fire center Sylvia Crawley on the final play.
Fallon finished with 12 points, and Maria Stepanova had nine points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix.
Kristin Folkl led the Fire with 12 points, and Jackie Stiles and Alisa Burras each scored 10.