El Paso’s Kayla Thornton to miss remainder of WNBA season due to knee injury

EL PASO, Texas - El Pasoan and Golden State Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton will miss the remainder of the WNBA season while she recovers from knee surgery.

Earlier in the week, Thornton injured her right knee during practice.

The team said Thornton had successful surgery to her knee Friday, but that she'll be out the remainder of the season.

Thornton was in the middle of her best season ever in the WNBA.

The 32-year-old WNBA veteran led the team in scoring with 14 points a game, along with 7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.

Just last week Thornton played in her first ever WNBA All-Star game in which she recorded a double-double.

Thornton graduated from Irvin High School, and then went on to play basketball at UTEP.

Her jersey number was retired at both Irvin and UTEP following her 2024 WNBA championship victory with the New York Liberty.

During the off-season she was selected by the Golden State Valkyries during the WNBA expansion.

This is Thornton's 10th season in the league.