Lynx Offseason Update Vol. 19: McBride, Shepard and Carleton Eyeing League Titles

It’s officially time for WNBA activities to begin, with training camp week among us as camps commence on April 30 around the league.

As the Minnesota Lynx nail down the final camp roster while figuring out which players will be at camp and who might be late arrivals, they are keeping an eye on a trio of players who are playing overseas while completing postseason runs.

Kayla McBride, Jessica Shepard and Bridget Carleton have continued to represent the Lynx for their respective teams in Turkey, Italy and Spain, with Tiffany Mitchell also participating in overseas action in Australia earlier this offseason.

Last week in the 18th edition of our Lynx Offseason Update, McBride was crowned a champion, Shepard advanced in the postseason and Carleton prepared for the start of a playoff run. This week, the trio remained in the heard of playoff runs while nearing the ultimate goal of claiming a league title.

Let’s take a look at how the Lynx have performed overseas in the 19th edition of our Offseason Update.

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Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images

Kayla McBride

Fenerbahçe — EuroLeague/Turkey-KBSL — Istanbul, Turkey

Over the last week, McBride and Fenerbahçe resumed play in the Turkey-KBSL playoffs, completing four games while sitting in the Finals entering the new week.

Fenerbahçe swept Galatasaray 2-0 in the semifinals round on April 18 and 20, taking the first game 84-60 and the second game 87-78 to advance to the Finals. In those pair of wins, McBride posted 27 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals over 31 minutes on April 18 and 17 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals over 28 minutes on April 20.

Advancing to the Finals against CBK Mersin, Fenerbahçe’s dominance continued over the weekend while taking the first two games of the best-of-five series to take a commanding lead in the championship series and looking to be on the way to a 17th KBSL title. In the first game on April 22, McBride tallied four points, a season-high 10 rebounds, five assists and one steal over 38 minutes during a 75-68 win. In Game 2 on April 23, McBride didn’t take the court in Fenerbahçe’s 83-76 victory.

The third game of the series is scheduled for April 25, with Fenerbahçe one game away from claiming another league title.

This offseason, McBride is averaging 19.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals over 29.6 minutes in 22 Turkey-KBSL appearances. She has also averaged 14.3 points, 3.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 32.9 minutes during 18 EuroLeague games this offseason.

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Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images

Jessica Shepard

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

Shepard and Umana Reyer Venzia kicked off the Italy Serie A1 semifinals over the last week after sweeping Ragusa in the quarterfinals.

On April 19, Umana Reyer Venzia fell to Schio 63-59 in the first game of the series, bouncing back with a 76-51 win in Game 2 on April 22. In the first game, Shepard posted 12 points, five rebounds and one steal over 30 minutes, following it with a double-double performance of 14 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and one steal in 34 minutes in Game 2.

Umana Reyer Venzia and Schio will return to action in the semifinals on April 25 in Game 3 as both sides attempt to reach the Finals.

This offseason, Shepard has averaged 19.8 points, 10 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 28.6 minutes over 26 Italy-Serie A1 games. She has averaged 16.9 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 29.8 minutes in 12 EuroCup games.

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Photo by Vicente Vidal Fernandez/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Bridget Carleton

Perfumerías Avenida — EuroLeague/Spain-LF Endesa — Salamanca, Spain

Carleton appeared in two Spain-LF Endesa postseason games with Perfumerías Avenida over the week, beginning the quarterfinal round of the playoffs against Cadi La Seu on April 20.

In the series, Perfumerías Avenida took the first game with a 92-45 blowout victory, responding with an 82-56 victory in Game 2 on April 23. In the first game, Carleton tallied 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in 35 minutes, adding 12 points, two rebounds, one block and one steal over 18 minutes in the second game.

Next up for Carleton and Perfumerías Avenida will be the semifinal round, which will begin this week.

So far this offseason, Carleton has averaged 10.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 24.7 minutes in 20 Spain-LF Endesa games, while averaging 10.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 steals in 30.8 minutes during 12 EuroLeague contests.

Thanks for reading another edition of our Lynx Offseason Update. See you back here next week for another update on the Lynx players.