Minnesota Lynx Offseason Update Vol. 4: McBride Continues to Shine, Shepard and Carleton Back in Action

Happy New Year, basketball fans!

Welcome back to a new week in our Minnesota Lynx Offseason Update with the calendar year now flipping from 2022 to 2023 and the start of the new year in the WNBA just a few months away.

As we await some offseason events to take place, such as free agency now underway, the draft coming up in April and any potential moves via trade the remainder of the offseason, a few Lynx players continue to hone their skills overseas to prepare for the upcoming season in the WNBA.

In the third edition of our Lynx Offseason Update, we updated you on Kayla McBride, Jessica Shepard and Bridget Carleton and how that trio of Lynx are performing for their respective teams in Turkey, Italy and Spain.

Over the last week, McBride continued to shine in Turkey to build onto her strong offseason thus far, while Shepard and Carleton return to action after some time off in December.

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

Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

Kayla McBride

Fenerbahçe — EuroLeague — Istanbul, Turkey

McBride continues to be the top performing Lynx player this offseason, putting forth another strong showing in Turkey with Fenerbahçe as we have seen in previous offseasons.

Over the last week since the last update, the Turkish Basketball Federation Women’s League Player of the Month for November played in one Turkey-KBSL game on Dec. 30 against OGM Ormanspor. She posted an all-around performance of 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in 33 minutes during a 100-72 victory. That 25-point outing was McBride’s fourth of the offseason in Turkey-KBSL action, also matching a season-high in rebounds in the victory.

So far this offseason, McBride is averaging 21.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and one steal over 29.7 minutes in 11 Turkey-KBSL appearances. She has also averaged 17.9 points, three rebounds, 2.7 assists and one steal in 36 minutes during seven EuroLeague games this offseason.

Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images

Jessica Shepard

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

Shepard returned to the court for the first time since Dec. 4, helping Umana Reyer Venezia to a 102-71 win over Faenza on Dec. 30 in Italy-Serie A1 action. In that game, Shepard returned to her double-double form while posting 15 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and one steal in 23 minutes.

The double-double performance on Dec. 30 was Shepard’s fifth of the offseason, four of which have come in Italy-Serie A1 play and the other coming in EuroCup action. She has posted a double-double in three of her last four Italy-Serie A1 appearances.

This offseason, Shepard has averaged 19.4 points, eight rebounds and 1.5 assists in 25.1 minutes over 11 Italy Series A1 contests. She has averaged 15.5 points, eight rebounds and 2.3 assists in 23.3 minutes in four EuroCup games this year.

Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images

Bridget Carleton

Perfumerías Avenida — EuroLeague — Salamanca, Spain

Like Shepard, Carlton logged her first action since before the holiday this past week, appearing in two Spain-LF Endesa contests for Perfumerías Avenida on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30.

In those pair of games, Carlton contributed with a pair of balanced outings while finishing two points shy of surpassing the double-digit scoring mark in both games. In an 81-42 win over Tenerife on Dec. 28, Carlton posted eight points, a season-high five rebounds, three assists and one steal in 20 minutes. In a 70-63 loss to Cadi La Seu on Dec. 30, she once again tallied eight points along with three steals, two rebounds, one assist and one block in 27 minutes.

So far this offseason, Carleton has averaged seven points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and one assist in 23.5 minutes in four Spain-LF Endesa contests, while averaging 13.5 points, two rebounds and one assist in 22.5 minutes during two EuroCup games.

That will do it for this week’s edition of the Lynx Offseason Update. Wishing you all a Happy New Year and plenty to look forward to with 2023 now underway.