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A while back Lynx President of Basketball Operations and coach Cheryl Reeve said forward Jessica Shepard was interested in returning to the WNBA.
The Lynx announced the 6-4 Shepard has re-signed with the team after taking last season off while fulfilling contract commitments with her club in Italy. Last winter, Shepard earned Eurobasket.com’s Greek A1 League Player of the Year honors after helping Athinaikos Qualco reach the A1 finals for the first time in eight seasons.
The 16th pick overall by the Lynx out of Notre Dame in 2019, Shepard has averaged 6.3 points (while shooting 48.3%), 6.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 85 WNBA games. She missed much of 2019 and all of 2020 after tearing a knee ligament.
In her most recent season with the Lynx, in 2023, Shepard appeared in 21 games, started 17, averaging 8.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists.
Her return to the team will make competition for a spot on the roster even more intense, with the starting five returning from last year’s team that lost in the WNBA Finals.
