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Thursday’s game against the Valkyries was close.

Too close.

In the end, though, Breanna Stewart, as she’s done many times before, willed the Liberty to an 82-77 win at Barclays Center.

Stewart wasn’t happy with how her night began.

She missed a jump shot from 7 feet and doinked back-to-back free throws.

At halftime, she had just nine points.

But Stewart came up big when the Liberty needed her the most, scoring 13 of her game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter.

She also had five rebounds in the game’s final 10 minutes.

Perhaps most impressive, though, was Stewart’s ability to get to the free throw line.

Coach Sandy Brondello said she’s “never” seen a player draw 16 fouls, as Stewart did against the Valkyries.

“She didn’t want to lose,” Brondello said. “That was the big thing.”

Thursday was the second time in five days that the Liberty successfully closed out a tight game.

It wasn’t pretty by any means, but the reigning champions’ late-game composure helped them survive and improve to 5-0 on the season.

“Some nights are going to be ugly,” Natasha Cloud said. “And you just got to grit it out and get it done at the end of the day. And that’s kind of what we did tonight.”

The Liberty were short on centers with Jonquel Jones (right hamstring) and Nyara Sabally (right knee) sidelined Thursday.

Their absences forced the Liberty to make some changes on the fly.

Kennedy Burke was promoted to the starting lineup, and Stewart played a lot of time at center.

The Liberty weren’t able to score in the paint as effectively as they normally have been with Jones.

To add insult to injury, the Valkyries put up a much better fight Thursday than they did two days prior in the Liberty’s 95-67 win.

Monique Billings was back in the rotation after missing Tuesday’s game with a right foot injury and contributed 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Janelle Salaun also was more impactful, recording 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Every time it felt like the Liberty were building momentum, the Valkyries responded.

The teams traded buckets for most of the game as neither led by more than six points.

The Valkyries had the ball with 42.6 seconds left while facing a one-point deficit.

But the Liberty forced Golden State into a five-second violation while trying to inbound the ball.

A play was drawn up to feed Stewart’s hot hand. But when she read the Golden State defense and realized she would be denied, she had to “freestyle.” Cloud took the ball and drove it to the hoops to give the Liberty a three-point advantage with 24 seconds left.

Cecilia Zandalasini missed a 3, and Cloud put the game away with a pair of free throws.

After the game, Stewart said it’s good for the Liberty to be challenged down the stretch.

“To expect us to beat every team by 30 is not normal,” Stewart said. “This league is incredibly talented and way too good, and of course, when you play a team back-to-back, they’re not just going to roll over and die after losing by 30. … They’re going to come and get whatever they can. But it’s good for us to be tested.”

The Liberty rested easily Thursday night knowing they’re one of only two remaining undefeated teams.

They’ll have less than 24 hours, though, to regroup before they play the Mystics in Washington on Friday, their third game in four days.

“This week is a hard week for us,” Cloud said. “There’s no excuses this week. We just got to get s–t done, and we got to play through the fatigue and the tiredness of what four games in six days means.”