Kayla Renae McBride (born June 25, 1992) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA) and Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Super League (KBSL). She was drafted third overall by the San Antonio Stars in the

2014 WNBA draft The 2014 WNBA season, 2014 Women's National Basketball Association, WNBA WNBA draft, draft is the league's annual draft (sports), process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was ...

. McBride played

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

for Notre Dame, where she led the Fighting Irish to four consecutive Final Fours and three NCAA championship appearances.

Early life

McBride is the daughter of LaMont and LuAnn McBride. McBride has one younger brother Aaron and two younger sisters Karlee and Jayden. Her sister Karlee played basketball for Indiana University.

High school career

McBride attended Villa Maria Academy in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

. McBride was a three-year starter and four-year letterwinner at Villa Maria under head coach Scott Dibble, helping Victors to combined record of 106–15 (.876) with two Pennsylvania Class AA state titles (2009, 2010) and a state runner-up finish (2007) in her prep career. In her freshman year in 2006–07, served as top reserve ("sixth man") on Class AA state runner-up squad that went 27–5; she averaged 6.7 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 1.6 spg. and 1.3 apg. with a .740 free throw percentage that season and earned Swin Cash award as Western Pennsylvania's Freshman of the Year in 2007. As a sophomore in 2007–08, sparked top-ranked team in Pennsylvania to 24–5 record while averaging 13.0 ppg., 6.8 rpg., 4.5 apg., 3.1 spg. and shooting .730 from foul line. During her junior year in 2008–09, helped VMA to 27–3 record and state title, while team rose as high as 15th in ESPN Hoopgurlz East Region rankings during season ... posted team highs of 17.3 ppg., 7.8 rpg. and 4.6 apg., along with 3.1 spg. and .820 free throw percentage. As a senior in 2009–10, led Villa Maria to a 28–2 record and its second consecutive state championship ... averaged 20.5 ppg., 11.8 rpg. and 5.6 spg., including 29 points and 11 rebounds in Class AA state final against York Catholic. She was named the District 10 Player of the Year and Pennsylvania Class AA Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010. McBride was the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year in 2010. McBride owns school records (boys or girls) in career points (1,727), rebounds (931), assists (474), steals (420) and blocked shots (191).

College career

Freshman season (2010–2011)

McBride went to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

to play

. As a freshman, she had to sit out half of the season because of academic issues. She watched from the sidelines as her team lost to Texas A&M in the 2011 NCAA Championship. That season she appeared in 19 games, starting in 4. McBride averaged 8.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and shot .557 from the field, the third highest on her team. They ended the season with a 31–8 record.

Sophomore season (2011–2012)

Her sophomore season she appeared in all 39 games, and started in 36 of those 39 games. In her sophomore year she ranked fourth on the team with a .496 field goal percentage, fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game, and won the Big East regular-season free throw percentage crown, with a free throw percentage of .919. The Fighting Irish again appeared in the championship, and again, they lost, but this time to Baylor. During that game McBride scored 11 points.

Junior season (2012–2013)

Again, she played all 37 games, and started in 36 games. McBride averaged 15.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. She led the league in free throw percentage, and almost tied ninth in the country but was two made foul shots shy of the minimum to qualify for the national ranking. Her field goal percentage was .453 that season, her lowest yet. Notre Dame went to the Final Four for the third time in a row, but they lost to UConn.

Senior season (2013–2014)

McBride started in all 38 games. She averaged career highs of 17.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. The Fighting Irish went undefeated, until during the championship game against Connecticut, who was also undefeated because both teams were in a different conference (with Notre Dame in the ACC conference), it was the first time the two teams had met that season. It was McBride's last chance to win a college championship. But Notre Dame lost in the second half, with the final score being 79–58. McBride contributed 21 points and 5 rebounds to her last game as a collegiate athlete.

Notre Dame statistics

Source

WNBA

San Antonio Stars (2014-2017)

In the

2014 WNBA Draft The 2014 WNBA season, 2014 Women's National Basketball Association, WNBA WNBA draft, draft is the league's annual draft (sports), process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was ...

, McBride was drafted third overall by the

San Antonio Stars The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the ...

. She started all 34 games for the Stars in her rookie season, leading the Stars in scoring, averaging 13.0 ppg, which also ranked third among rookies in the WNBA. She was one of three unanimous selections to the WNBA All-Rookie Team and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. McBride scored in double-figures in 21 games, including two 30-point performances, while recording the most points by a Stars rookie (442) since the team relocated to San Antonio. She set career highs in assists (6) and steals (5), while scoring 15 points at Tulsa (7/17). The Stars achieved a playoff berth and finished third place in the Western Conference but were eliminated by the

in a 2-game sweep during the first round. McBride led the Stars in scoring during the postseason (22.5 ppg), while scoring a team-high 20 points in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals and 25 points in Game 2. In her second season, McBride was voted into the

2015 WNBA All-Star Game The 2015 WNBA All-Star Game is an exhibition basketball game. It was played on July 25, 2015. The Connecticut Sun hosted a WNBA All-Star Game for the fourth time. The Sun previously hosted the game in 2005, 2009, and 2013. Starters for the game w ...

, and finished the season, averaging 13.8 ppg, but the Stars didn't make the playoffs this time. In the 2016 season, McBride would continue to improve, but suffered a right foot injury on July 2 against the Minnesota Lynx. She was ruled out for the remainder of the season and finished with a career-high of 17.1 ppg. In the 2017 season, McBride would return healthy and play 30 games with 29 starts, averaging 15.4 ppg. On August 1, 2017, McBride scored a career-high 31 points in a 93–81 win over the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...

. The Stars finished with a league worst 8–26 record.

Las Vegas Aces (2018-2020)

In 2018, the Stars relocated to

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and were renamed the Las Vegas Aces. In March 2018, McBride re-signed with the Aces to a multi-year deal in free agency. In 2018, McBride have the best season of her career thus far. On June 28, 2018, McBride scored a new career-high of 38 points in a 97–91 loss to

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg ...

. McBride would be an all-star for the second time in her career as she was voted into the

2018 WNBA All-Star Game The 2018 WNBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on July 28, 2018. The Minnesota Lynx hosted the WNBA All-Star Game for the first time. Rosters Selection On June 5, the WNBA announced that 2018 would have a new roster selecti ...

. By the end of the season, McBride averaged a new career-high in scoring, this performance along with rookie sensation

A'ja Wilson A'ja Riyadh Wilson (born August 8, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Wilson played for the South Carolina Gamecocks in college, and helped lead the Ga ...

would almost lead the Aces back in the playoffs but they fell short finishing 9th place in the league with a 14–20 record. In 2019, the Aces had a much improved season and finished with a 21–13 record as the number 4 seed, receiving a bye to the second round under the league's new playoff format, bringing the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 2014. McBride was voted into the

2019 WNBA All-Star Game The 2019 WNBA All-Star Game was an exhibition game, exhibition basketball game played on July 27, 2019. The Las Vegas Aces hosted the WNBA All-Star Game for the first time. Rosters Selection On June 12, the WNBA announced that 2019 would simila ...

, making it her fourth all-star appearance. In the second round elimination game, the Aces would defeat the Chicago Sky 93-92 off a game winning half-court shot by teammate Dearica Hamby. However, in the semi-finals, the Aces would lose to the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...

in four games. In 2020, the season was delayed and shortened to 22 games in a bubble due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. McBride played and started in all 22 games, the Aces finished 18–4 with the number 1 seed, receiving a double bye to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, the Aces would advance to the Finals after defeating the Connecticut Sun in a hard-fought five-game series but would end up getting swept by the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

Minnesota Lynx (2021-Present)

In 2021, McBride became an unrestricted free agent and signed with the

Overseas

In the 2014–15 off-season, McBride played in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

for

Uniqa Sopron Sopron Basket is a Hungarian women's basketball club from Sopron. Founded in 1921 as the women's section of Soproni VSE, it has played in the Hungarian National Championship since 1986. It plays its home games in the Aréna Sopron. Sopron won ...

. In the 2015–16 off-season, McBride played in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

for Nadezhda Orenburg. As of November 2016, it was confirmed that McBride is playing in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

for Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi for the 2016–17 off-season. In 2017, McBride resigned with Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi for the 2017–18 off-season. In 2018, she signed with

UMMC Ekaterinburg BC Ekaterinburg (russian: БК «УГМК») is a Russian women's basketball team based in Yekaterinburg competing in the Russian Premier League, and until February 2022 in FIBA Europe's EuroLeague Women. In reaction to the 2022 Russian inv ...

of the Russian League for the 2018-19 off-season. McBride signed with Fenerbahçe for the 2020–21 season. At the end of the season, she extended her contract with Fenerbahçe for two more years. In 2020-21, Fenerbahçe won the bronze medal by ending in third place in EuroLeague Women by beating Sopron Basket 64-58 in the third-place playoff with a double-double from Kayla McBride but Sopron Basket reversed the outcome in 2021-22 so that Fenerbahçe ended the season as silver medalists after Sopron Basket defeated Fenerbahçe 60-55 in the final.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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, 34 , , 34 , , 26.0 , , .406 , , .396 , , .846 , , 2.3 , , 1.7 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 1.2 , , 13.0 , - , align="left" ,

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, 27 , , 25 , , 28.0 , , .382 , , .373 , , .879 , , 3.1 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 1.6 , , 13.8 , - , align="left" ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

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, 17 , , 17 , , 30.8 , , .367 , , .305 , , .853 , , 4.0 , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 2.0 , , 17.1 , - , align="left" ,

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, 30 , , 29 , , 33.2 , , .381 , , .310 , , .925 , , 4.1 , , 2.6 , , 1.1 , , 0.2 , , 1.9 , , 15.4 , - , align="left" ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

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Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, 31 , , 31 , , 32.3 , , .449 , , .393 , , .917 , , 3.9 , , 3.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 2.0 , , 18.2 , - , align="left" ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

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, 34 , , 34 , , 29.1 , , .425 , , .428 , , .906 , , 4.2 , , 2.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 1.7 , , 13.3 , - , align="left" ,

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, 22 , , 22 , , 26.6 , , .425 , , .342 , , .897 , , 2.3 , , 2.4 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 1.4 , , 12.5 , - , align="left" ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

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Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, 32 , , 32 , , 31.6 , , .433 , , .379 , , .910 , , 3.6 , , 2.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 1.1 , , 13.7 , - , align="left" ,

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, 31 , , 31 , , 29.8 , , .405 , , .356 , , .909 , , 2.8 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 1.5 , , 13.3 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 9 years, 2 teams , 258 , , 255 , , 29.7 , , .409 , , .368 , , .898 , , 3.4 , , 2.3 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 1.6 , , 14.4

Postseason

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, 2 , , 2 , , 30.2 , , .593 , , .600 , , 1.000 , , 2.5 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.5 , , 22.5 , - , align="left" ,

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, 5 , , 5 , , 32.6 , , .447 , , .429 , , .950 , , 3.2 , , 3.0 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 2.2 , , 14.0 , - , align="left" ,

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, 8 , , 8 , , 30.9 , , .400 , , .345 , , 1.000 , , 3.4 , , 2.9 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 1.4 , , 9.5 , - , align="left" ,

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, 1 , , 1 , , 34.0 , , .538 , , .571 , , .500 , , 7.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.0 , , 19.0 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 4 years, 2 teams , 16 , , 16 , , 31.6 , , .459 , , .433 , , .949 , , 3.4 , , 2.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 2.2 , , 13.1

EuroLeague

USA Basketball

McBride was named to the USA Basketball U18 team. The USA team was one of eight teams from North, South and Central America, along with the Caribbean, invited to participate in the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Women, held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. The top finishing team qualify for the 2011 FIBA U19 Women's World Championship. The team was coached by Jennifer Rizzotti. The team won all five games, earning the gold medal for the event, and a place in the 2011 U19 World Championship for women. McBride averaged 8.2 points per games, reaching double-digits in three of the contests. She was third leading on the team with eight steals.

References

External links

WNBA Rookie Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McBride, Kayla 1992 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Basketball players from Pennsylvania Fenerbahçe women's basketball players Las Vegas Aces players McDonald's High School All-Americans Minnesota Lynx players Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) San Antonio Stars draft picks San Antonio Stars players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Erie, Pennsylvania Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars