Beth Mead opened the scoring from the spot after Liverpool's Becky Easton had fouled the forward inside the penalty area.
Natasha Dowie responded for the visitors before the break in stunning fashion, lobbing goalkeeper Hilde Gunn Olsen from 30 yards.
Sunderland 2-2 Liverpool
The FAWSL 1 with BT Sport
The Hetton Centre
Saturday 8 August 2015
Rosie White then beat Olsen after being put through one-on-one to fire the Reds ahead on 68 minutes, only for McDougall to rescue a late point.
Lucy Staniforth struck the post with a free-kick for Liverpool and Katrin Omarsdottir missed an open goal during a frantic few moments in injury time, while White and Mead also had opportunities to win it for Sunderland.
The result sees the Lady Black Cats move a point clear of Arsenal at the summit of the table, but the result means both the Gunners and third-placed Chelsea can go back to the top with wins on Sunday.
The point leaves Liverpool sixth in the table and five points above the relegation spot with only four games remaining.
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Speaking afterwards, Sunderland striker Mead said: “We see it as two points dropped - that’s the standards we have set ourselves now to come away from a game against Liverpool and be disappointed with a draw.
“At the start of the season we would have snapped your hand off just to stay in the league, but now we want to win every game.
“We have got four more cup finals and for that we have to prepare properly. We also need a bit of luck to help get us over the line.
“We’ll be watching the Arsenal v Manchester City game closely now, we want to see how teams around us do and I guess a draw might be best for us.”
Sunderland: Olsen, Holmes, Bannon, Williams, Greenwell, Ramshaw (Kelly 72), Furness, McDougall, Chaplen, Roche (Joice 64), Mead.
Substitutes: Laws, Wilson, McFadden.
Liverpool: Stout, Harris, Bonner, Easton, Pacheco (Schroder 73), Omarsdottir, Staniforth, Hodson (Smorsgard 62), Longhurst, White, Dowie.
Substitutes: Darbyshire, Ryland, Dale, Zelem, Green.
Attendance: 1,008
Referee: Graeme Fyvie
