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.
We are nearly a month away from WNBA training camps commencing leading up to the start of the 2023 season, and a quartet of Minnesota Lynx players continue to prepare for the upcoming year by spending their offseason’s playing overseas.
The Lynx quartet of Kayla McBride, Jessica Shepard, Bridget Carleton and Tiffany Mitchell have taken the court in Turkey, Italy, Spain and Australia, and they continued to do so over the past week.
Last week in the 12th edition of our Lynx Offseason Update, we updated you on how McBride, Shepard, Carleton and Mitchell have performed overseas, with all four once again putting forth solid performances for their respective teams. This week, the quartet of Lynx returned to the court with postseason play getting underway overseas.
Let’s take a look at how the Lynx have performed overseas in the 13th edition of our Offseason Update.
Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
Kayla McBride
Fenerbahçe — EuroLeague — Istanbul, Turkey
Over the last week, McBride once again appeared in one of two games with Fenerbahçe, not taking part in a Turkey-KBSL game against Nesibe Aydin on March 6 but returning to the court on March 9 against Galatasaray in Turkey-KBSL action.
In her lone appearance during the week, McBride helped her squad to an 80-62 victory, finishing the game with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes.
This offseason, McBride is averaging 19.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and one steal over 30 minutes in 16 Turkey-KBSL appearances. She has also averaged 15.9 points, 3.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 34.6 minutes during 14 EuroLeague games this offseason.
This upcoming week, McBride and Fenerbahçe will begin the EuroLeague playoffs, with the quarterfinals scheduled for March 14 and March 17 against Sopron.
Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images
Jessica Shepard
Umana Reyer Venezia — Italy Serie A1/EuroCup — Venice, Italy
Shepard was back in action with Umana Reyer Venzia over the past week, taking the court in one Italy-Serie A1 game on March 9.
In a game against Schio, Shepard once again recorded a double-double while taking the court for a season-high 41 minutes during a 73-72 overtime victory. Shepard tallied 25 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and one steal to help lead her squad to a win. That double-double is her 11th in 20 Italy-Serie A1 games, including her eighth in the last 10 contests.
This offseason, Shepard has averaged 16.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 28.7 minutes in 10 EuroCup games this year. She has averaged 20.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 28.5 minutes over 20 Italy-Serie A1 games.
Over the next week, Shepard and Umana Reyer Venezia will play Galatasaray in the semifinals of EuroCup play on March 16, followed by an Italy-Series A1 game against San Martino on March 19.
Bridget Carleton
Perfumerías Avenida — EuroLeague — Salamanca, Spain
Carleton appeared in two games with Perfumerías Avenida this week, taking the floor in a pair of Spain-LF Endesa contests against Araski on March 8 and Barcelona CBS on March 11.
Against Araski, Carleton saw limited time on the floor in an 83-46 blowout victory, finishing with just two points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal over 19 minutes. On March 11 against Barcelona CBS, Carleton pitched in with nine points to help her squad to a 68-50 victory.
So far this offseason, Carleton has averaged 11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, two assists and 1.6 steals in 29.4 minutes during nine EuroLeague contests, while averaging 10.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals in 25.8 minutes in 13 Spain-LF Endesa games.
Over the next week, Carleton and Perfumerías Avenida will begin the EuroLeague playoffs, facing USK Prague in the quarterfinals on March 14 and March 17. To finish the week, Carleton and Perfumerías Avenida will battle Araski in Spain-LF Endesa action on March 18.
Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images
Tiffany Mitchell
Melbourne — WNBL — Melbourne, Australia
Over the past week, Mitchell and Melbourne kicked off the Women’s National Basketball League playoffs, facing the Southside Flyers in the semifinal round of the postseason.
In the first game of the best-of-three series, Mitchell and her squad feel to Southside 84-76 before bouncing back in the second game with a 96-77 win to force a winner-take-all third game this week. In the first game, Mitchell finished with a season-high 36 points, six rebounds, three assists and one steal over 40 minutes. In the second game, Mitchell responded with 18 points, four rebounds, two steals and one assist in 34 minutes.
In both the regular season and postseason, Mitchell has appeared in 20 games for Melbourne this offseason, averaging 20.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.9 steals in 36.4 minutes per game.
Mitchell and Melbourne will return to action on March 15 for the winner-take-all third semifinal game against Southside with the winner advancing and the loser having their season end.
That will do it in another edition of the Lynx Offseason Update. See you back here next week for another update on the Lynx players.