(L-R) Sabrina Ionescu #20, Rebecca Allen #9 and Stefanie Dolson...

(L-R) Sabrina Ionescu #20, Rebecca Allen #9 and Stefanie Dolson #31 of the Liberty look on from the bench during the fourth quarter against the Connecticut Sun at Barclays Center. Credit: Jim McIsaac

The Liberty sank in a sea of turnovers.

They had won by two against Connecticut at Barclays Center on opening night, when both teams were shorthanded. The Sun had their two missing starters back for Tuesday night’s rematch in Brooklyn. The Liberty were missing three players and out there in their fourth game in seven days, but that certainly didn’t explain away everything.

They turned the ball over 32 times — one short of the WNBA record — leading to 44 points. Connecticut, with DeWanna Bonner and Courtney Williams in the lineup, sent the Liberty to their fourth straight loss since that May 7 victory, beating them, 92-65.

“Fatigue played a part of it,” coach Sandy Brondello said of the turnovers, “but we’ve got to be smarter than that.”

Rebecca Allen joined the cause after finishing her season in Spain. She shot just 1-for-8 and scored four points. But the seventh-year guard can help.

“She’s going to be huge for us on the defensive end,” said Stefanie Dolson, who scored 13. “And then on the offensive end, just spacing the floor. She can score in a lot of different ways.”

But starting small forward Jocelyn Willoughby (knee) sat out. Brondello doesn’t expect her back for at least a few weeks. Backup guard/forward DiDi Richards (hamstring) missed her second straight game. And reserve 6-10 center Han Xu was out due to a non-COVID illness.

Betnijah Laney scored six of her team-high 16, helping the Liberty go up 10-2. But by the end of the first quarter, the Sun (2-1) led 18-15 and the Liberty had 12 turnovers, leading to 16 points.

By the time 2:08 had passed in the second quarter, the Liberty had committed five more leading to 11 points. The Sun were on an 18-0 run and led 29-15.

“I was stunned: Why are we turning it over?” Brondello said. “We’ve got to make better decisions.”

Bonner scored 12 of her team-high 16 and it was 51-32 at halftime, with 20 Liberty turnovers leading to 32 points. The lead swelled to 34 in the fourth.

Now the Liberty get a six-day break to rest and practice.

“It’s early, but there’s still concern because there are some things that just shouldn’t happen,” Brondello said. “It’s just having a little bit of poise, and we don’t have that at the moment."

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