Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu help Liberty rally to beat Mystics in overtime

After their star-heavy makeover, the Liberty stepped on the court for their first time together in a game that counted. It was May 19 at Washington, and it didn’t go well for them — Mystics by 16.

So before Sunday’s rematch at Barclays Center, Breanna Stewart talked about the Liberty wanting to redeem themselves.

Well, they took the long way toward redemption, falling into a 17-point first-quarter hole. But they chipped away and ultimately teamed with the Mystics to take the 7,285 fans on hand for a late thrill ride.

The Liberty forced overtime on Courtney Vandersloot’s drive for a bucket with two seconds left, then claimed an 89-88 win on a three-point play by Stewart with 19.7 seconds to go in OT.

“It wasn’t a pretty game,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said after her team’s largest comeback of the season. “We didn’t play great . . . But we found a way to win. And I think that shows a lot of the character of this team.”

Sabrina Ionescu nailed seven three-pointers and led the Liberty (9-3) with 31 points.

On the day when she was announced as an All-Star starter and a captain who drafts one of the rosters for the second straight year, Stewart shot just 4-for-17 but still delivered 18 points. Betnijah Laney added 17.

Vandersloot had 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists. She was enthused about how the Liberty “dug deep.”

“That’s a good locker room win,” she said. “You go in there and you feel good about winning the game.”

Jonquel Jones didn’t score but grabbed 10 rebounds, helping the Liberty take a 45-29 advantage on the boards.

“One thing we’d like to have back is our rebounding,” Mystics coach Eric Thibault said.

Ionescu’s second three-pointer in OT gave the Liberty a one-point edge with 2:13 left.

Natasha Cloud (23 points) converted a three-point play with 1:59 remaining to give Washington (8-5) an 88-86 edge. That held up until Stewart went hard to the basket, driving the left side for two, getting fouled by Tianna Hawkins in the process and canning the free throw for the deciding point.

“Obviously, it was a tough shooting [day] for me, but [I was] continuing to be aggressive, and [I] know my team needs me,” Stewart said.

The Mystics had two chances to go ahead in the final five seconds, but Elena Delle Donne and Myisha Hines-Allen came up empty.

“We kind of maintained our poise and pulled one out,” Brondello said.

Ariel Atkins, who paced Washington with 24 points, hit one of her six three-pointers to ignite an 11-2 run that made it 75-67 with 2:26 left in the fourth. But the Liberty rallied.

Vandersloot went 1-for-2 from the line with 10.5 seconds left to cut it to 77-76. Cloud went 1-for-2 at 9.0, so it was just a two-point game.

Then Vandersloot drove the right side — 78-78.

“We didn’t get stops when we needed to,” Cloud said.

And to think it had been 13-0 and 23-6 Mystics. But by halftime, the Liberty trailed by only 45-39.

“Even when we were down in the fourth quarter,” Ionescu said, “there was just this belief within us that we can do this.”

Notes & quotes: Liberty center Stefanie Dolson suffered a right ankle injury in Friday’s win at Atlanta. Brondello said Dolson didn’t tear anything but added about her return, “It’s not days. It’s weeks.” . . . Stewart called her All-Star captaincy “an honor, obviously.” It came with finishing among the top two in the fan balloting . . . Washington’s Shakira Austin was carried off with 7:40 left in the fourth with what was deemed a left hip strain.