Lexie Hull and Kayla Thornton.Lexie Hull and Kayla Thornton (Photo via WNBA)
Cameras caught Kayla Thornton (accidentally?) bouncing the ball off the head of Lexie Hull during Thursday night’s game between the Golden State Valkyries and Indiana Fever.

Kayla Thornton had a field day for the home team on Thursday night, tallying a team-high 16 points and six rebounds as the Valkyries defeated Caitlin Clark’s Fever 88-77. The result pushed both teams to 6-6, placing them in a tie for sixth in the WNBA standings.

This game was certainly less eventful than the Fever-Connecticut Sun game two nights earlier, where Sophie Cunningham (Indiana), Lindsay Allen and Jacy Sheldon (Connecticut) were ejected following heated scuffles.

Earlier in that game, Sheldon and teammate Marina Mabrey were called for fouls after the former poked Caitlin Clark in the eye. As the two exchanged words, Mabrey came from behind and delivered a cheap shot to Clark.

Yes, it was a much cleaner game on Thursday night. But cameras caught one hilarious moment where Kayla Thornton bounced the basketball off Lexie Hull’s head as they fought for a rebound:

We’d like to think Thornton didn’t mean to do that, but there appeared to be a bit of a staredown at Hull after the ball was corralled, so who knows if it was intentional or not?

The Valkyries will try to move above .500 when they host Connecticut on Sunday (8:30 p.m. EST) while Clark and Indiana head to Las Vegas to continue their road trip for a Sunday tilt with the Aces (3:00 p.m. EST).

Kayla Thornton Is Having An Excellent First Year In Golden State

Kayla Thornton (Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images)

Golden State drafted Thornton with the No. 9 selection in the 2024 WNBA expansion draft, after she led the New York Liberty to a league championship.

Thornton has taken her game to another level since joining Golden State, averaging a career-high 14.8 points per game. That’s double her career average of 7.4, and well above her previous career-high of 10.4 PPG (in 2019).