Bridget Carleton comes out of her shell and threatens to shoot the Lynx

There were times last winter when Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve would watch a tape of a game of Bridget Carleton playing in the EuroLeague in Hungary and see Carleton go down in transition, without hesitation, and attempt a three-point shot. A contested three, perhaps, but a good one.

And she thought, “Why doesn’t she do that here?”

Reeve watched Carleton compete on the Canadian national team as an aggressive player and wondered what happened to that player when Carleton put on a Lynx jersey.

News flash: this player has finally arrived.

Pushed into the starting lineup in the fourth game this season due to Diamond Miller's knee injury, part of a starting five that can stretch the floor perhaps better than any Lynx team than Reeve has coached, Carleton is becoming the player Reeve spent the last few years searching for.

“I think coming into training camp, that was my mindset,” Carleton said. “I wanted to average more than four points per game. The first two games of the season I wasn't shooting well, but I was shooting. Then when I took on that starting role, I wanted to score.”

Shoot and score more

There are some things Carleton has always brought to the team. She's a great teammate who is selfless – maybe too selfless at times. She works hard on the defensive side, especially in the team concept. She is good for key rebounds.

But too often she denied open shots, passing the ball instead of shooting it.

Now she is also scoring more.

In 13 games this season, Carleton, 27, is averaging a career-high (7.8), attempting 4.7 three-pointers per game and making 2.0, both figures more than double his career average. of his first five years in the WNBA. She is shooting 42.6 percent on three-pointers, one of four Lynx players in the league's top 10 in that category.

And his numbers are improving. Carleton scored nearly nine points per game as a starter and made nearly 47 percent of his shots from three. During the Lynx's current three-game winning streak, she has scored 13.0 points per game, shot 58.3 percent from the field and made 11 of 18 three-point attempts (61.1 percent).

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Reeve said consideration was given to whether to bring back Carleton, who was a free agent, this season. She would probably return as a reserve but would receive a salary close to that of a starter. Was the aggressive play Reeve had seen overseas finally coming to Minneapolis?

“We loved Bridget so much that we believed in it and hoped it would happen,” Reeve said. “It wasn't that we were sure it would happen. The messages had come, she had all the information. But it was, 'OK, let's try.' “

Growing confidence as a starter

And now she takes and produces photos.

Carleton made five of seven 3-point attempts in a victory in Las Vegas on Tuesday night.

Two nights earlier, facing a Seattle team that showed up at Target Center as the hottest in the WNBA, she scored 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, making three of five three-point attempts.

There were some standout moments in the win over the Storm. Late in the third quarter, with the Lynx clinging to a five-point lead, Carleton scored, but his shot was blocked by Jordan Horston with 1.4 seconds left in the quarter. There was a lot of contact during the play. A foul probably could have been called.

But then Carleton broke free, received an inside pass from Olivia Époupa and scored at the buzzer. With 8½ minutes left in the game, she fed Époupa for a basket. A minute later, Carleton's two-point jumper gave the Lynx a nine-point lead. With four minutes remaining, Carleton's three-pointer gave the Lynx an 11-point lead, sealing the game.

Carleton said her confidence increased with more minutes as a starter. Determined not to procrastinate, she tries to be ready to shoot before the pass reaches her.

“It’s the mindset,” Carleton said. “It was, 'How can I help this offense besides just making the right cut, the right pass?' I wanted to take the next step.”

Carleton is not the team's superstar. This is Napheesa Collier. She's not the team's biggest three-point threat. It's Kayla McBride and, some nights, Alanna Smith. But it's because these other players are on the field with her that she has even more good opportunities.

And take them.

“I’m at a really good place in my career,” Carleton said. “Going abroad was very helpful, playing against the best players in Europe. I somehow found a new level of confidence with the national team.”