Lynx Offseason Update Vol. 10: Shepard and Carleton Return, Mitchell Shines, McBride Remains Out

Each week, we will provide an update on the Minnesota Lynx players overseas and how they are performing as part of our Lynx Offseason Update series.

By MitchellHansen@M_Hansen13 Feb 21, 2023, 8:00am CST

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The WNBA offseason continues to roll along, with the Minnesota Lynx relatively quiet to begin free agency while making one new signing while re-signing a few other players now a few weeks into the signing period.

As the rest of the roster fills out, a quartet of players already on the roster continue to play around the globe in Turkey, Italy, Spain and Australia in preparation for the 2023 W season.

Kayla McBride, Jessica Shepard, Bridget Carleton and newcomer Tiffany Mitchell continue to spend their offseasons overseas while working on their games before the 2023 W season commences.

A few weeks ago in the ninth edition of our Lynx Offseason Update, we once again updated you on how Kayla McBride, Jessica Shepard and Bridget Carleton have performed overseas. The trio didn’t take the floor during the first full week of February, with Shepard and Carleton getting back to action over this past week while McBride remained sidelined in Turkey. New to this edition of the Lynx Offseason Update is the addition of Mitchell, who put continued to build off her nice offseason in Australia.

Let’s take a look at how the Lynx have performed overseas in the 10th edition of our Offseason Update.

USK Praha v Fenerbahce Safiport - FIBA EuroLeague Women Semi Final

Kayla McBride

Fenerbahçe — EuroLeague — Istanbul, Turkey

McBride was supposed to take the court with Fenerbahçe twice this past week, but both games were postponed due to the recent deadly earthquakes that hit Turkey.

So far this offseason, McBride is averaging 20.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals over 29.5 minutes in 15 Turkey-KBSL appearances. She has also averaged 15.8 points, four assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 35.3 minutes during 12 EuroLeague games this offseason.

Over the next week, McBride and Fenerbahçe are scheduled to play Valencia in EuroLeague action on Feb. 22 before facing Galatasaray on Feb. 25 in a Turkey-KBSL matchup.

Jessica Shepard

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

Shepard returned to the court over the past week for one Italy-Serie A1 game, finishing with yet another double-double performance, her seventh in the last 10 Italy-Serie A1 contests.

In a battle against Gesam Gas Le Mura Lucca on Feb. 19, Shepard posted a team-high 25 points and 16 rebounds, along with two steals and one assist in just over 27 minutes during an 86-45 blowout win.

This offseason, Shepard has averaged 17.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 27.8 minutes in eight EuroCup games this year. She has averaged 18.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 24.5 minutes over 17 Italy-Serie A1 contests.

Over the next week, Shepard and Umana Reyer Venezia will face Elitzur Ramla on Feb. 23 in EuroCup play, followed by an Italy-Serie A1 game against San Giovanni Valdarno on Feb. 25.

Bridget Carleton

Perfumerías Avenida — EuroLeague — Salamanca, Spain

Carleton also took the court for a pair of games over the past week, suiting up for Perfumerías Avenida in two Spain-LF Endesa contests.

On Feb. 16 against Cadi La Seu, Carleton finished with 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal over 31 minutes during a 63-47 victory. On Feb. 19 against Tenerife, Carleton has a nice all-around performance of 13 points along with a season-high eight rebounds and six assists in 24 minutes during a 76-46 win.

So far this offseason, Carleton has averaged 11 points, 3.9 rebounds, two assists and 1.7 steals in 29.4 minutes during seven EuroLeague contests, while averaging 11.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals in 26.2 minutes in 11 Spain-LF Endesa games.

Over the next week, Carleton and Perfumerías Avenida are set to face DVTK Miskolc in EuroLeague play on Feb. 23 before playing a Spain-LF contest against Uni Girona CB on Feb. 25.

Tiffany Mitchell

Melbourne — WNBL — Melbourne, Australia

The newest addition to the Lynx in free agency, Mitchell has had a nice offseason thus far with the Melbourne Boomers in the Women’s National Basketball League, a professional basketball league based in Australia.

Over the last week, Mitchell and the Boomers took the court for a pair of games, a 101-96 overtime loss to Townsville on Feb. 15 and an 87-47 win over Sydney Uni Flames on Feb. 19. In the loss to Townsville, Mitchell tallied a near triple-double of 21 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals over 48 minutes. Against Sydney Uni Flames, she posted a team-high 24 points along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals over 33 minutes.

Not the result we wanted, but the fight cannot be questioned.

Onwards to Sydney. pic.twitter.com/EGcdmZ6Bps
— Deakin Melbourne Boomers (@MelbBoomers) February 15, 2023

So far this offseason, Mitchell has appeared in 15 games for Melbourne, averaging a WNBL-leading 19.8 points, five rebounds, five assists and 2.1 steals per game.

Over the next week, Mitchell and Melbourne are set to face Southside on Feb. 22 and UC Capitals on Feb. 25.

That will do it in another edition of the Lynx Offseason Update. Enjoy the rest of free agency and the offseason as we continue to approach the 2023 season.