The WNBA All Star Game was played on Saturday with Kayla Thornton representing the Golden State Valkyries. She got to enter the game in the first quarter for Team Clark and had some good minutes immediately. Team Collier took the lead early and fended off a fourth quarter charge to win 151-131.
Injury Substitutes
A number of players had to miss the game due to injury so some replacements were named during the week leading up to the event. Caitlin Clark was not able to play for the team that she was captaining and had to be replaced by Brittney Sykes of the Washington Mystics. Satou Sabally was also not able to play and was replaced by Brionna Jones of the Atlanta Dream. Earlier in the week, Kayla McBride of the Minnesota Lynx replaced Rhyne Howard on Team Collier.
Special Rules
There were several rules changes for this game to speed it up and increase the excitement. The shot clock was 20 seconds instead of 24 seconds and substitutions were allowed to be made on the fly during game action. Each side of the court had two circles beyond the arc that awarded four points for shots made from inside of them. Points were automatically awarded instead of free throws needing to be shot until the end of the game when regular rules resumed.
Thornton’s Performance
With multiple players on the team battling injuries, Thornton was able to play more than half of the game, leading all players with 25 minutes on the court. She had 15 points, getting the chance to launch from the four-point circles and had a team-high 11 rebounds while dishing out 5 assists.
Leave a Reply