Minnesota Lynx Offseason Update Vol. 5: McBride, Shepard, Carleton Continue Strong Performances

It’s that time of the week for another Minnesota Lynx Offseason Update to get you up to speed on how a few Minnesota Lynx players are performing overseas ahead of the 2023 WNBA season.

With the offseason about to get interesting around the WNBA with the free agency period underway, Kayla McBride, Jessica Shepard and Bridget Carleton are focusing on continuing to hone their skills overseas.

In the fourth edition of our Lynx Offseason Update, we updated you on the Lynx trio who are hitting the hardwood for their respective teams in Turkey, Italy and Spain. Over the last week, McBride, Shepard and Carleton all put together strong showings for their teams overseas with the trio all back in action following the holiday and new year.

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

Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Kayla McBride

Fenerbahçe — EuroLeague — Istanbul, Turkey

McBride has shined all offseason while playing in Turkey with Fenerbahçe, and she continued to put forth strong performances over the last week.

Since our latest update on McBride, she played in one EuroLeague contest on Jan. 4 and one Turkey-KBSL game on Jan. 7. On Jan. 4 against CCC Polkowice in EuroLeague play, McBride dropped 17 points with four threes, adding seven assists, three rebounds and two steals in 35 minutes during a 111-61 victory. In Turkey-KBSL action on Jan. 7 against CBK Mersin, McBride finished with 10 points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist in 32 minutes of a 77-68 loss.

So far this offseason, McBride is averaging 20.6 points, five rebounds, three assists and 1.1 steals over 29.9 minutes in 12 Turkey-KBSL appearances. She has also averaged 17.8 points, 3.3 assists, three rebounds and 1.1 steals in 35.9 minutes during eight EuroLeague games this offseason.

Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images

Jessica Shepard

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

In last week’s update, Shepard returned to the court for the first time in nearly a month for Umana Reyer Venezia, and she had another strong week this past week for the Italian club.

In an 89-82 loss to Sassari on Jan. 5 in EuroCup play, Shepard tallied another double-double, finishing with a dominant performance with 19 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and one steal in 32 minutes.

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 16.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 25 minutes in five EuroCup games this year.

Photo by David Berding/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 to begin the 2023 year. In both games, Carleton surpassed the double-digit scoring mark.

In EuroLeague action on Jan. 4, Carleton posted 13 points, five rebounds two assists and one steal in 35 minutes during an 85-80 loss to CBK Mersin. In Spain-LF Endesa play on Jan. 8, she posted a near double-double with 11 points, nine rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in 32 minutes during a 76-62 win over Zaragoza.

So far this offseason, Carleton has averaged 7.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.4 steals and one assist in 25.2 minutes in five Spain-LF Endesa contests, while averaging 13.3 points, three rebounds and 1.3 assists in 26.7 minutes during three 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.