Liberty Find Unexpected Offense From Sixth Woman Sensation

Kayla Thornton's newfound outside prowess has kept the New York Liberty's offensive reputation intact.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

The New York Liberty's sixth woman's leap into the starting five has solidified the team's three-point output.

The offensive game of former Dallas Wing Kayla Thornton has taken flight upon a field promotion into the metropolitan five. Surrounded by three-point masters ... including reigning WNBA triple queen Sabrina Ionescu ... Thornton has joined the fun to the tune of a 12-of-21 output over the past four games.

Often referred to exclusively by her initials in Brooklyn settings, such prowess has garnered yet another name change.

"Her name is Ka-three-la," reigning WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart declared after a Saturday win over the Los Angeles Sparks. "She's continuing to be in the gym working on her shot. When she shoots it, she's staying in it, she's not overcutting and things like that, understanding that, yeah she's a shooter, I'm going to space to my range. The rest of the team continues to find her and she knows when it knock it down and when to continue to move it."

Shooting over 57 percent from deep (second among WNBA players in her last four games to only Indiana's Kelsey Mitchell with a minimum of three attempts per game) amidst a packed stretch of basketball has been enough of a sterling development. But it's downright jaw-dropping considering that Thornton entered this season hitting only 32 percent of such tries between eight prior seasons in Brooklyn and North Texas.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

At 31, Thornton had little to prove this season, even with an unnoticeable scoring output. Her defensive reputation landed her a multi-year extension from New York just before last fall's run to the WNBA Finals tipped, firmly establishing herself as the first woman in relief. That made her the first choice to enter the starting five amidst Courtney Vandersloot's continued absence in the wake of her mother's passing.

Through it all, Thornton, humbly crediting her shooting grace to her work overseas, and her cohorts seem most proud over the fact that she hasn't forgotten the defensive work that turned her into a seafoam staple, channeling what several New York headliners have referred to as a "dog"-like work ethic and tenacity.

"It says a lot about KT as a person," head coach Sandy Brondello said of Thornton's growing role. "KT has always been a fabulous leader regardless of the role that she's been in on previous teams and on our team. We've just empowered her ... KT is KT. She's not changing anything that she hadn't done last year. She's being confident, always coming ready play, locked in and playing her role to the best of her ability."

"We all believe in her, we know what she's capable of," Ionescu said. "She sacrifices a lot to be on this team and I think we all understand that and embrace everything that she brings ... with her defensive intensity, being able to get up and get steals, (and then) hit big-time shots, we're happy for her, because hard work pays off."

But it's ironically the defensive juggernaut's offensive evolution that's helping the Liberty's continued climb to the top of the WNBA standings, as well as its push toward further in-season glory.

Thornton's magnum opus to date was a 6-of-7 output in Saturday's 98-88 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Her career-best, previously partly denied by a controversial offensive foul call in Tuesday's loss in Phoenix, made her one of only 11 players to sink at least six from deep this season, joining illustrious triple threats such as Ionescu, Caitlin Clark, Rhyne Howard, Kayla McBride, Kelsey Plum, and Diana Taurasi.

Potent team chemistry obviously has the lion's share of the credit, but Thornton threes are often harbingers of doom to metropolitan opponents: New York is 5-1 when Thornton hits at least two with an extra point on the line, and the average margin of victory in the triumphs is 19.

"She practices every single day ... she stars in her role," Brondello said of Thornton, who tied her career-best in scoring with 20 points on Saturday. "We all have different roles that we have to fulfill on this team and she plays her role perfectly ... This is one of the nights where, every single time it goes up, I know it's going in because I see it every day in practice. She's always going to give us great effort."

Thornton's next chance to step back lands on Tuesday night when the Liberty seek to defend their Commissioner's Cup crown against the Minnesota Lynx at UBS Arena (8 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video).

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