The Lynx went on to win that game by a final score of 81-75. Williams put up 21 points and grabbed 12 boards and was blowing kisses to the Valkyries\u2019s iconic home crowd<\/a> before the night was through. McBride poured in 17 in \u2018just-another-day-at-the-office\u2019 like fashion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor me it\u2019s their belief in how we do it,\u201d Reeve added. \u201cThey are the ones that every day live it for the rest of [the team]. Obviously, Natasha Howard<\/a> was here before, so she also knew what was going to be expected of her and how we do things. So, please, please shout that really loud. Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams are extremely, extremely instrumental in where we are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The aforementioned \u2018unprecedented time\u2019 Reeve spoke of referred to the massive and lucrative game of musical chairs that was WNBA free agency in 2026. After the terms of the landmark collective bargaining agreement were agreed to by the WNBA and the WNBA Players Association, there was more salary cap space to use than ever before. With about 90% of the league\u2019s veterans out of a contract, there were also more players available to receive lucrative offers than any offseason to date.\u00a0<\/p>\n Minnesota held the same amount of cap space as every other team in the league, but no team has enough room to offer five max contracts. The Lynx used three of them to retain McBride, Williams, and Collier. Bridget Carleton<\/a> and Alanna Smith<\/a> departed for max level deals in Portland and Dallas respectively. Key bench contributors Jessica Shepard<\/a> and Natisha Hiedeman<\/a> also took handsome deals in other WNBA cities, with Shepard joining Smith in Dallas and Hiedeman going out west to Seattle. An exodus of talent that was difficult to endure for fans of a team who watched a tight-knit group win 64 regular season games over the previous two years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many of the names on the backs of the jerseys changed, but the standard that comes with bearing the name on the front of the jersey remained the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe top,\u201d Williams said directly when asked where she felt the Lynx stacked up at the press conference announcing the return of Minnesota\u2019s esteemed big three. \u201cWe at the top.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAin\u2019t nothing changed,\u201d McBride added smoothly.\u00a0<\/p>\n Technically speaking, there have been a number of changes, but perhaps the most impressive thing about Minnesota\u2019s success in 2026 has been the multitude of ways in which they\u2019ve shown they can win games.\u00a0<\/p>\n Williams is an all-star again for the second consecutive season. In eight seasons with other WNBA franchises, she made one all-star game before coming to Minnesota. She made it last year playing the lead guard spot for the franchise, and now back at her natural two-guard position thanks to the presence of Olivia Miles<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a testament to this program,\u201d Williams said recently. \u201cThis organization putting me in a position to be successful. Obviously, my teammates, my coaches, just getting your girl back in the game, man!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Rep The IX Sports at your next game! <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Shop the logo collection or special \u201cWomen\u2019s Sports are Front Page News\u201d collection now on Shopify.<\/p>\n McBride is not currently on the list of players heading to Chicago for All-Star Weekend next week, but she\u2019s making a convincing case for herself in the event that an injury replacement is needed. Still, she\u2019s averaging 17.3 points per game, marking her highest output as a Lynx, and second highest of her career since she averaged 18.1 in 2018 with the Aces.\u00a0<\/p>\n McBride\u2019s been crucial to the Lynx all season, but her last five games have been transcendent. She\u2019s eclipsed the 20-point mark in all five, including a 37-point outburst against the Mercury, and is averaging 27.4 points through that stretch.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s been going so crazy,\u201d Williams said after Minnesota\u2019s latest win against the Sparks on Wednesday. \u201cI know what she do. I\u2019m in the trenches with her everyday so I know what she do. I\u2019m just happy everybody\u2019s getting to see it. Like I said when I just had my TV interview, they better look at them All-Stars again because she\u2019s definitely supposed to be there with us.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s year No. 13 for McBride. She\u2019s been in the league for nearly half of its 30-year existence. She may be one of the team\u2019s elder stateswomen, but she insists she\u2019s playing with as much child-like joy as she ever has. Having her mom LuAnn sitting courtside for a couple of games didn\u2019t hurt either, especially to have her witness her historic 37-point night firsthand.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the game. I love playing here at Target Center. My mom, I keep telling my mom I average 30 when she\u2019s here, so I\u2019m trying to get her to move to Minnesota,\u201d McBride said after the game. \u201cReally that\u2019s why I\u2019ve been playing like this, but you know, I just love the game.\u201d<\/p>\n McBride passed hall of famer Tina Thompson<\/a> for No. 5 on the all-time 3-pointers list earlier in the season. If she continues at this pace she\u2019ll have a good chance of passing current Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon<\/a> for No. 4.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think especially when I step into this arena, I want to give my best,\u201d McBride said after Monday night\u2019s win against Phoenix. \u201cThat\u2019s really what it was. Whatever it takes, you know. Sometimes shots go in, sometimes they don\u2019t, today they were going in so just try to maximize that. I\u2019m just trying to compete at a high level and be the player that I know I can be for this organization that I care about so much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Averaging 5.6 rebounds per game, Williams is solidifying her case as one of the best rebounding guards in the league\u2019s history. She and Seattle\u2019s Flau\u2019jae Johnson<\/a>, with 140 rebounds apiece, are the only guards in the league\u2019s top 20 as of July 16. The Lynx currently sit at No. 2 in the league with 35.5 rebounds per game, and the fact that they have the most prolific rebounding guard in the league is a big reason why.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the best rebounding guards ever,\u201d McBride said. \u201cHer athleticism, she\u2019s not afraid to get in there and dig them out. It\u2019s just Court. She\u2019s willing to do whatever it takes to win. She\u2019s one of the most competitive people I know. She just wants to do everything she can to help us win. The confidence that she has in herself and the belief that she has in herself is contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n The contagious nature of McBride and Williams was on display in that Golden State game. Just a few hours after Reeve asked for the impact the pair of veterans have on winning to be shouted about by anyone listening, the Lynx found themselves in clutch time with one of the other contending teams in the league. It hadn\u2019t been the best of nights for Miles, but leaning in on what she\u2019s learned from her veterans, she kept her head in the game and effected winning by making the game-sealing blocked shot on a Cecilia Zandalasini<\/a> 3-point attempt.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThose two are my biggest cheerleaders and I feel the same for them,\u201d Miles said two days after that Golden State game. \u201cI didn\u2019t have my best offensive game [that night] and I went up to them and was like, \u2018Thank you guys for carrying today,\u2019 and they were like, \u2018We got you! You this for us every night.\u2019 So it\u2019s stuff like that where they\u2019re just there for me and I trust that they\u2019re going to lift me up when I\u2019m down and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked more recently what\u2019s been the biggest key to sustaining the team\u2019s place atop the WNBA standings,\u00a0Miles immediately knew that the answer was steadiness. <\/p>\n \u201cConsistency, man,\u201d she said. \u201cJust showing up and doing it every day. It\u2019s literally stacking your days and falling in love with the process and not getting bored with it. You can\u2019t get bored with it even when you\u2019re doing it every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n At 19-6, the Lynx have won a lot of games (and a lot of possessions), and have put themselves in good position to be in the championship mix at just over the halfway mark. They may be stacking wins, but they\u2019re certainly not counting any achievements yet, and the focus that\u2019s part of the organization\u2019s long standing standard is trained in on the same details it always is.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe boring little things that nobody sees, the conversations, the film, these adverse situations too,\u201d McBride said after Wednesday\u2019s win against the Los Angeles Sparks. \u201cGoing through it during the season and finding a way. Whether we\u2019re tired, three games in four days, whatever, because that\u2019s what a playoff series is like. I think we\u2019re learning as a group. I know [Natasha Howard\u2019s] been in situations, but bringing Nia [Coffey] along, bringing Liv along, and Cheryl\u2019s really good about that. Holding it to the same standard so it\u2019s kind of contagious. Everyday we\u2019re in there just doing little things so hopefully when we get to that point, we\u2019re ready.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women\u2019s Sports Daily<\/strong> \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_2558-1024x809.jpg\")
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We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women\u2019s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women\u2019s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!<\/p>\n