Thornton earns second career NAIA weekly award

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Loyola New Orleans women's basketball's Deniya Thornton was honored by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics on Tuesday, as she was named the NAIA Offensive Player of the Week after earning the conference's honors on Monday.  
 

It's the second national weekly award for the junior, too. She was named the NAIA Defensive Player of the Week in January of last season. She swept both the offensive and defensive awards from the SSAC on Monday, making her eligible for both NAIA awards this week.  
 

Thornton and the Wolf Pack picked up two SSAC wins last week, defeating Mobile on Thursday and Faulkner on Saturday in The Den to improve their record to 11-2 overall and 4-1 in SSAC play. The junior started the week with a 29-point, 10-rebound performance in a 40-point win over the Rams to record her first double-double of the season (seventh career), then she added 28 more points and nine rebounds in an overtime win against the Eagles. 
 

Thornton also had seven total steals and two blocks in the two games, highlighted by a six-steal outing on Thursday night. 
 

She leads the Wolf Pack with 18.4 points per game and 2.9 steals per game, while ranking second on the team in assists (2.5) and in rebounding (6.4). Thornton ranks second in the SSAC in the points-per-game category and fourth in total steals (40). 
 

It didn't count towards the SSAC and NAIA honors, but Thornton and the Wolf Pack picked up win No. 12 on Monday with a 78-70 victory at Dillard. Thornton led the team with 18 points, three assists and two steals. 
 

Riding an eight-game winning streak, Loyola (12-2, 4-1 in SSAC) returns to Southern States Athletic Conference play on Thursday when it travels to Abraham Baldwin for a 4:30 p.m. CST contest.
 

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