Minnesota Lynx Offseason Update Vol. 6: McBride Struggles, Shepard Continues Double-Double Trend, Carleton Showcases Balance

As the WNBA offseason officially gets underway with the free agency period in the league in full swing, a few Minnesota Lynx players continue to play overseas as they await the start of the 2023 season and find out who they will play alongside this summer.

A week ago, we gave you an update on Kayla McBride, Jessica Shepard and Bridget Carleton in the fifth edition of our Lynx Offseason Update as they continue to hit the hardwood in Turkey, Italy and Spain.

Over the past week, the Lynx trio all took part in a pair of contests, with McBride taking a bit of a step back, Shepard continuing her double-double trend and Carleton putting forth a pair of balanced games overseas.

Let’s take a look at how the Lynx have performed overseas in the sixth edition of our Offseason Update.

Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

Kayla McBride

Fenerbahçe — EuroLeague — Istanbul, Turkey

McBride returned to the court over the previous week, having a below-average week than what we’ve seen from her this offseason thus far.

Since our latest update on McBride, she played in one EuroLeague contest on Jan. 11 and one Turkey-KBSL game on Jan. 13. On Jan. 11 against KSC Szekszárd, McBride finished with nine points, six rebounds and six assists over 35 minutes in a 91-71 win. On Jan. 13 against Antalya 07, she tallied six points, four assists and two rebounds in 21 minutes. Those two games are just the second and third times this season McBride has failed to surpass the double-digit scoring total.

So far this offseason, McBride is averaging 19.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and one steal over 29.2 minutes in 13 Turkey-KBSL appearances. She has also averaged 16.8 points, 3.6 assists, 3.3 rebounds and one steal in 35.8 minutes during nine EuroLeague games this offseason.

Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images

Jessica Shepard

Umana Reyer Venezia — Italy Serie A1/EuroCup — Venice, Italy

Over the last week, Shepard took part in a pair of games with Umana Reyer Venezia, taking part in one EuroCup contest and one Italy-Serie A1 game while once again putting forth double-double efforts in Italy.

In an 83-61 victory over Sassari on Jan. 12 in EuroCup action, Shepard posted another double-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and one steal over 31 minutes. That was her second straight double-double game in EuroCup play. On Jan. 15 in Italy-Serie A1 action, Shepard tallied another double-double of 21 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in 36 minutes during an 82-74 win over Ragusa.

This offseason, Shepard has averaged 19.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 26.6 minutes over 13 Italy-Series A1 contests. She has averaged 16.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 26 minutes in six EuroCup games this year.

Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

Bridget Carleton

Perfumerías Avenida — EuroLeague — Salamanca, Spain

Carleton was back in action over the past week while playing in one Spain-LF Endesa contest and one EuroLeague game. In both games, Carleton put forth balanced performances for her Spanish club.

In EuroLeague action on Jan. 11, Carleton finished with nine points, five rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal in 37 minutes during a 71-64 loss to Landes. On Jan. 14 in Spain-LF Endesa play, Carleton tallied a season-high 15 points, five rebounds, one block and one steal in 29 minutes during a 73-54 win over Gemika.

So far this offseason, Carleton has averaged nine points, four rebounds and 1.3 steals in 25.8 minutes in six Spain-LF Endesa contests, while averaging 12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 29.3 minutes during four EuroCup games.

That will do it for this week’s edition of the Lynx Offseason Update. See you all next week as the offseason rolls along ahead of the 2023 WNBA season.