El Paso native, UTEP graduate Kayla Thornton wins WNBA Championship

NEW YORK, NY (KVIA) -- El Paso native Kayla Thornton had multiple big events to celebrate last night.

Thornton celebrated her 32nd birthday and helped the New York Liberty to win their first WNBA championship with a 67-62 victory over the Minnesota Lynx.

Thornton played 21 minutes, scoring 2 points, grabbing 2 rebounds, and collecting one block and one steal before fouling out.

An Irvin High School graduate, Thornton played at UTEP under head coach Keitha Adams, where Thornton was a 3-time All-CUSA player and 2-time All-CUSA defensive team member.

In her second season with the Liberty, Thornton played in all 40 regular season games. She averaged 5.5 points and 2.7 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per game this season.

She also played in all 11 postseason games for New York, where the Liberty went 8-3 on route to their first title.

Thornton joined the Liberty after 6 seasons with the Dallas Wings. She placed 3rd in the Most Improved Player voting in 2018.

ABC-7 spoke with Thornton's former coaches from El Paso today, and they were extremely proud of Thornton.

Ewa Laskowska, the assistant head coach for UTEP, said that Kayla has been special the whole time, and her toughness and work ethic made her who she is.

"It's such a great it's great feeling for all of us who had a part of of her life in her career and been in her life."

UTEP announced today that they will honor Thornton on November 10th during their game versus Morehead State. The team will retire her jersey during the game.

November 10th will also be known as "Kayla Thornton Day" in El Paso.

Tickets for that game are available on www.UTEPMiners.com or by calling (915) 747-UTEP.