In 2014, Kayla Thornton played in arguably the biggest moment in UTEP women’s basketball history in the 2014 WNIT championship.
A decade later, three weeks ago, she played in one of the biggest moments in professional women’s basketball history when her New York Liberty won Game 5 of the WNBA championship on her 32nd birthday.
Sunday at the Don Haskins Center, where she called home for four glorious years, Thornton will watch as her number becomes the first women’s basketball jersey to hang from the rafters.
More: Irvin High School retires number of El Paso basketball legend, WNBA champion Kayla Thornton
That will be part of Kayla Thornton Day, on which UTEP’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder will be honored as her Miners take the floor against Morehead State for a 6 p.m. tip.
“She’s a WNBA championship and she came from El Paso, the 915,” her coach Keitha Adams said. “She was on the floor in the biggest stage of the biggest game in the biggest moment and they won the whole thing.
“(Her and Minnesota Vikings star Aaron Jones) love El Paso; they always circle back. On the night of the celebration, Kayla is back there, ‘9-1-5, 9-1-5.’ This is a chance for everyone to celebrate that.”
Kayla Thornton Day will also allow her to catch up with her fans.
“It’s been a lot, but the most important thing, it’s a blessing,” Thornton said in the aftermath of her WNBA championship, the first time in her career she’s won the last game of a season. “I haven’t even grasped that I’m a champion. My messages, I have like 300-plus, I’m trying to reach out to everybody and tell them thank you.”
Her fans and UTEP will get to do that to her Sunday.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP women set to honor its greatest player on Kayla Thornton Day
