Kayla Thornton shines as Valkyries crush Connecticut Sun

SAN FRANCISCO — The Valkyries put Sunday’s game away early. 

Coming off an impressive win over Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever on Thursday, Golden State crushed the Connecticut Sun 87-63 in front of its seventh consecutive sellout crowd of 18,064. 

The Valkyries shot 35.9% from the field and hit nine 3-pointers. They took a 27-point lead at halftime and didn’t look back. 

Kayla Thornton scored a game-high 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made two steals. Tiffany Hayes scored 14 points. Laeticia Amihere had a double-double off the bench with 10 points and 12 rebounds. 

Aneesah Morrow led the Sun with 14 points.

After starting the season 2-5, the Valkyries have won five of their last six games

They led by three points after the first quarter and blew the game open in the second. 

Guard Kaitlyn Chen opened the second period with an and-1 floater that drew loud cheers from the crowd. The bucket was Chen’s first in her WNBA career. 

After Chen’s basket, the Valkyries went on a 21-10 run to take a 20-point lead with 3:22 left in the second quarter. Golden State had its best scoring quarter of the season, finishing the frame with 36 points to take a 59-32 halftime lead. 

Thornton had 17 points in the first half while Hayes added 14. The Valkyries made 8-of-14 3s and shot 50% from the field in the first 20 minutes. 

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Connecticut shot 28.6% from the field and turned the ball over five times in the first half. 

The Valkyries continued to pour it on in the second half. Golden State ballooned its lead to as large as 30. 

In one of their most dominant performances of the season, the Valkyries outscored the Sun 32-12 in the paint and out-rebounded the visitors 50-35. 

The Valkyries will play host to the New York Liberty on Wednesday in their next game. It will mark the first time Walnut Creek native and Miramonte High alum Sabrina Ionescu will face the Valkyries in the Bay Area.