Washington — Unlike a year ago, when the Connecticut Sun limped to the finish line, this year they head into the offseason with promise.

Rookie Jonquel Jones scored a career-high 21 points and three players recorded double-doubles as Connecticut ended its 2016 WNBA season with an impressive 87-78 victory over the Washington Mystics on Sunday at the Verizon Center.

After a 3-13 start, the Sun went 11-7 over their last 18 games — including 8-4 in the final 12 — to finish the season 14-20. They also beat the Mystics in Washington for the first time since Sept. 4, 2012.

"This year, with the youngest team in the league, it was about a culture of playing hard, a culture of competing," said Curt Miller, who finished his first year as head coach and will become the franchise's general manager when Chris Sienko steps down later this month. "Now we have to move like we did late in the year to have a culture of winning.

"They proved to themselves the last 18 games of the year that they can play with anyone. ... Really proud of how far we've come since May and we hope to keep that momentum going into next year."

Jones, who starred at nearby George Washington, also had seven rebounds and made a career-high three 3-pointers while playing in front of a large contingent of friends.

Former Maryland star Alyssa Thomas also had a huge night, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high-tying seven assists. Former Mystic point guard Jasmine Thomas — a candidate for Most Improved Player — tied a career high with 10 assists while also collecting 14 points and six rebounds.

Chiney Ogwumike (10 points, 10 rebounds) finished the season with her 17th straight double figure scoring game and her seventh double-double while Camille Little (10 points, five rebounds) had a pair of crucial threes.

"It was a tough game," said Washington center Stefanie Dolson, who scored 18 points. "Connecticut played really well. (It was) tough to play the last home game in front of these fans. It didn't work out the way that we wanted it to, but we're going to work on a lot of stuff in the offseason and get ready for next year."

In a game with 17 lead changes and 12 ties, it was a 10-0 Connecticut run that began with a pair of Jasmine Thomas free throws with 8:08 remaining that made the difference. Ogwumike followed with a bank shot in traffic, and then Little scored five points on a jumper in the lane and a 3-pointer from 26 feet with 6:17 left.

A free throw by rookie Courtney Williams (seven points, six rebounds, three assists) capped the run with a free throw, and a 71-70 Sun lead was suddenly 81-70.

The Mystics (13-21) could not get closer than seven points the rest of the way.

It was Connecticut's first win over the Mystics this season and a key was on the boards, where the Sun held a 46-32 rebounding edge, including 14-3 on the offensive end.

"I don't think we competed like we did during the season for parts of the game tonight," Washington coach Mike Thibault said. "One of the ways that you know you're really competing is that you make a concerted effort on the boards and (Connecticut) had 14 offensive rebounds and we had three. So what ends up is that they have 80 field goal attempts and we have 59. To only have two people on our team get offensive rebounds, that's a bad sign."