UTEP alum Kayla Thornton had her best week of the summer, capping it with a double-double that helped the Golden State Valkyries set a franchise record and extend a winning streak.
The Marquee Performance
Thornton's fingerprints were all over Golden State's 94-76 dismantling of the Dallas Wings on Friday night. The forward finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal — her +15 plus-minus the best of any Valkyrie on the floor. But the individual line almost undersells the moment: Golden State dished out a franchise-record 27 assists, a number that reflects a team playing cohesive, purposeful basketball. Thornton is part of that connective tissue. Veronica Burton led the team with 22 points and Gabby Williams added 19, but it was the collective — Thornton included — that made the night historic.
The win moved Golden State to 22-9 on the season and stretched their winning streak to three games. The game was played at American Airlines Center in Dallas, in front of 16,444 fans — a venue the Wings will continue to call home through at least the 2027 season.
The Full Week
Thornton's week had a rocky start but finished strong. In a Monday win over the Tempo (96-79), she was quiet — 3 points, 1 rebound, and a -3 plus-minus. She bounced back sharply on Wednesday, pouring in 19 points and going +7 in another Valkyries win, 91-82 over Portland. Then came Friday's double-double. Across the three-game stretch, Thornton averaged 11 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, with Golden State going 3-0 in the process.
The Bigger Picture
For UTEP fans tracking the program's WNBA footprint, Thornton's week is worth noting. She is not a box-score star in the traditional sense — she doesn't manufacture shot attempts or dominate possessions — but her efficiency and two-way impact have been a consistent thread through Golden State's recent run. A franchise-record assist night is built on movement, spacing, and screens; Thornton's role in that system is easy to miss on a stat sheet and hard to miss when you watch the tape.
The Valkyries are quietly one of the WNBA's best stories this season, and a UTEP alum is part of the reason why.
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