In the second quarter of Thursday’s game against the Sky, Chicago’s Marina Mabrey lofted a wayward pass in the paint that Liberty wing Kayla Thornton grabbed and tossed to Breanna Stewart before tumbling into the first row of fans.
The hustle sent the Barclays Center crowd — the largest the Liberty have ever drawn to the building at 17,758 — into a frenzy for the first time that night after watching the Sky build a 13-point lead in the first half off its strength in the paint.
Stewart ran the other way, blocking a defender while handing the ball off to Leonie Fiebich for a 3-pointer.
On the following play, Thornton hustled after another bad pass, the end result a 3-pointer from Sabrina Ionescu that tied the game at 38-38.
The consecutive steals were half of Thornton’s four momentum-shifting plays that greatly impacted the Liberty’s 91-76 victory.
It was hustle that the Liberty will need in the final two games before the Olympic break — against the Sky again Saturday, then the Sun on Tuesday — to keep the No. 1 spot in the league, especially as they’re missing starter Betnijah Laney-Hamilton for a second time this season because of a right knee injury.
An opportunity has opened again for Thornton and the other wings.
She delivered a 20-point outing in June without Laney-Hamilton, and on Thursday she brought a strong defensive presence that put the crowd in her hand.
“I love it. I love it,” Thornton said about the fans’ support. “That’s kinda what keeps me going because those are very hard plays. That’s hard work. So, you know, when the crowd gets like that, it kind of just makes me forget about my tiredness and it makes me want to have it more because their energy just kind of helps us.”
The 6-foot-1 10th-year pro tallied 16 points on the night, and in the fourth quarter she had two more steals that kept the score in the Liberty’s favor and helped limit the Sky to only two points in transition.
With under five minutes to go, following a turnover by Jonquel Jones, Thornton chased down Lindsay Allen to disrupt a Sky fast break, sprinting so hard she went straight into the tunnel.
She disappeared for a bit to catch her breath before jogging back onto the court where she was met with a standing ovation.
“I loved it. It was on my turnover, too, so I loved it even more,” Jones said with a laugh. “She got back there and saved me, but yeah, that’s what KT does. She understands her role and she does it to the best of her ability, and we need more of that from her to just continue to just leave it all out there.”
Thornton’s final steal involved in a funny moment with Angel Reese in the closing minutes.
Mabrey of the Chicago Sky. Michelle Farsi/New York Post
Isabelle Harrison missed a jumper and Reese collected the rebound — her 10th of the game to mark her 15th double-double in a row.
However, she fouled Thornton in the process.
Thornton ripped the ball from the former LSU star to get to the charity stripe, screaming in celebration.
It created a mash-up of cheers from Sky fans yelling for Reese’s record and Liberty loyalists praising Thornton’s hustle.
She hit both free throws before the Liberty called a timeout to sub out their starters for bench players to play the last couple of minutes.
“She’s amazing off the bench and being that spark on offense and defense, especially defensively. I wouldn’t want to play against her,” Fiebich said.
Thornton is among the wing group of Fiebich and Kennedy Burke tasked with filling the hole left by Laney-Hamilton’s absence, especially in defending the opponent’s top guard.
Thornton helped limit Chennedy Carter, who still had 22 points, but was stifled on her drives in the paint in the second half.
Thornton also performed well in shutting down Marina Mabrey, who went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc but didn’t have opportunities to shoot any in the final quarter.
“She’s a great player, but we left her open. We didn’t execute the scout,” head coach Sandy Brondello said of the Mabrey adjustment. “Can never go underneath her or leave her open, and we kept size on her. I think Kayla Thornton did a fantastic job with her. Just staying skin on skin, and then when we did switch, we just made it hard for her.”
