The Minnesota Lynx offense could almost be boiled down to “Give Kayla McBride the ball.”

After all, the sharpshooting guard completed a two-game stretch on Sunday that is one of the best in the 28-year history of the WNBA.

“McBuckets” made seven 3-pointers as part of a season-high 32-point night and the Lynx pulled away to beat Seattle 83-64.

“I’m just having a lot of fun,” McBride said.

Shooting a league-best 51.2% on 3-point shots, McBride had a franchise- and career-best eight buckets from deep Friday. Her 15 threes in a two-game period ties the WNBA record set by Diana Taurasi from Sept. 1-3, 2020. However, McBride attempted 23 shots during her record-tying run. Taurasi needed 28.

“I think K-Mac should be on top given that tiebreak,” coach Cheryl Reeve said.

McBride and Taurasi are the only players in league history with back-to-back games with at least seven made 3s.

“I’ve just kind of found my flow at this point of my career and I’ve just been trying to capitalize on it,” said McBride, now in her 11th season. “And I know that’s what this team needs me to be too, that’s be very confident on the perimeter. We have one the best players in the world in Napheesa Collier and I’m just trying to create that same feeling on the outside.”

Calling McBride’s run “pretty incredible,” Reeve said the rest of the offense deserves credit, too.

“I think she’s getting easier 3s than maybe she got last season,” Reeve said. “There’s more to worry about and I think maybe that has contributed. So, her teammates around her finding her in a good time when a defense is in rotation. But credit to her, she’s got to the hard work, she’s got make the shot.”

“Every time she shoots the ball in the game, I think it’s going in,” said Bridget Carleton, a shooting partner at practice with McBride.

Minnesota, which shot 45% from the field, had 25 assists on 27 baskets and was 17 of 21 from the free-throw line.

Collier was her usual self with a 19-point, 14-rebound outing and showed more outward emotion, including involvement in couple of second-half skirmishes. And Carleton found her stroke in the second half with 10 of her 13 points.

The 8-3 Lynx have won four of five and six of eight. Minnesota, who lost on a last-second shot Friday in Phoenix, has beaten 7-4 Seattle three times this season.

The top shooting, long-distance team in the WNBA with 10.6 makes per game and a 40.5% success rate, Minnesota had a 14-5 run late in the third quarter/early fourth keyed by the 3.

McBride and Collier drilled 3s to start the stretch and Collier added another. Carleton ended the third converting an inbounds pass from Olivia Époupa for a 59-52 lead, leading to Carleton and McBride exchanging an enthusiastic hand slap after the make.

In 14 minutes off the bench, Époupa, a 5-foot-5 guard, grabbed eight rebounds and had seven assists, numbers McBride called “insane.”

Another McBride 3 put the Lynx up by 10 midway through the fourth and her final trey made it 78-62.

Down by five at intermission, Minnesota outscored Seattle 47-23 in the second half.

Losing for the first time in seven games, Seattle got 25 points from Jewell Loyd and 14 from Nneka Ogwumike. The Storm shot 34.7%, the sixth time in 11 games a Lynx opponent did not reach 40%.

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Natalie Darwitz, who built the PWHL’s first championship team only to be ousted as its general manager last week, said Sunday she is proud of her work as Minnesota’s general manager but declined to comment on the specifics of her dismissal.

“As the General Manager of PWHL Minnesota, I gave my heart and soul to provide a first-class experience to the players, staff and fans,” Darwitz wrote in a message to an email to reporters. “My goal was to grow the game of women’s hockey and to show young girls their dream could become a reality.”

Minnesota won the inaugural Walter Cup, the championship trophy for the six-team league, by clinching a three-game sweep over Boston on May 29. Minnesota ranked second in attendance, averaging 7,138 at Xcel Energy, well over the league average of 5,448.

Darwitz, a high school phenom from Eagan who went on the star for the Gophers and Team USA before turning to coaching at Hamline and her alma mater, was removed as the Minnesota PWHL’s team on Thursday, addressed the team’s supporters in her email, her first public comments on the move.

“I am very proud of the team and organization that was built and the championship we brought home to this great State of Hockey,” Darwitz said. “At this time, I am not able to provide any details regarding my departure. Thank you.”

Darwitz, 40, was hired as Minnesota’s first general manager in September and was responsible for drafting the entire roster in the league’s first draft. She used the first overall pick on Taylor Heise, a Kazmaier Award winner in 2022 when Darwitz was her position coach at the U.

She also pulled the trigger on the PWHL’s first trade, sending forward Susanna Tapani and defender Abby Cook to Boston for blue liner Sophie Jaques, who won the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Award as a senior at Ohio State. Jaques scored twice against her former team in Game 2 of the PWHL finals.

The decision to fire Darwitz was made by PWHL management, which released a statement on Saturday confirming it had “parted ways” with Darwitz.

“We appreciate all that Natalie has done for PWHL Minnesota in the league’s inaugural season and her contributions to the team’s championship success. We wish her the best moving forward,” Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford said.

In a teleconference held with a small group of reporters that did not include a member from the Pioneer Press, Hefford said the league’s decision came after internal and external review that included interviews with Minnesota players and staff.

“The feedback to us was pretty direct and pretty clear that there wasn’t a path forward with the current personnel in place,” Hefford said, according to ESPN. “It was with the work we did throughout the year, and it was clear that a change needed to be made.”

Some Minnesota players asked to comment on Sunday did not immediately return messages.

“There is no immediate timeline for the naming of the next PWHL Minnesota General Manager,” the PWHL said, but it’s expected that coach Kevin Klee — hired later after Darwitz’s original choice, Charlie Burggraf, stepped down before the season started — will remain and add general manager duties.

Remaining Minnesota staff will run the team’s PWHL draft, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Monday at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul. Minnesota has the third overall pick. The draft will stream live on the PWHL’s YouTube channel.

Just over a year ago, St. Paul Saints infielder Michael Helman was putting up the type of numbers that were creating buzz around CHS Field that he could get his first big league call-up.

A dislocated shoulder put an end to the speculation and nearly ended Helman’s season, sidelining him from May 12 to Sept. 13.

All these months later, let the speculation begin again.

The 27-year-old Helman is hitting a robust .387 in June and hit his 10th home run of the season on Sunday in the Saints’ 7-4 loss to the Syracuse Mets. For the season, Helman is batting .276 with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs despite missing a couple weeks due to a left hamstring strain.

“I’ve always said that when he’s healthy and going good, he’s one of the best players on the field,” Saints manager Toby Gardenhire said. “And that’s what he’s doing right now.”
Helman, an 11th-round pick by the Twins in 2018 out of Texas A&M, said he is handling the latest buzz the same way he did a year ago.

“I don’t think about it; if it happens, it happens,” Helman said. “If they need something at that time, it could be you, whether you’re playing well or not.”

Helman said he met with hitting coach Shawn Schlechter a few weeks ago to iron out a problem with his swing.

“I was letting my front-leg kick get pretty high,” Helman said. “It was messing with my timing; being able to recognize pitches. We narrowed that down, and it feels a lot better now.”

Helman provided the majority of the Saints’ offense on Sunday, with a two-run homer and an RBI double. He was on base four times, adding a single and a hit by pitch.

The loss dropped the Saints to a season-low eight games under .500 at 27-35. They haven’t been above .500 since April 11, when they beat Iowa to improve to 6-5.

Sunday marked the end of the Saints’ 11th series of the season. They have won only two of them, including an abbreviated two-game set with Columbus to start the season, while losing six and splitting three.

Injuries have played a part, but the roster does not featured as many top prospects as it has in the past.

“It feels like as soon as we do a couple things right, we go back and do a couple things wrong,” Gardenhire said. “We’ve got a good group, and I expect good things going forward, but it’s been tough.

“Hopefully, we’ll stay healthy and keep all the guys on the field, and start going in the right direction.”

Gardenhire knows his main job is getting players ready to help the Twins. But he doesn’t discount the importance of winning games.

“Winning is part of development,” he said. “Losing every day doesn’t develop you, it doesn’t help you get better as a player. You need to learn how to win games. We’ve always done that, and we’ll get back to that. The guys aren’t happy with losing, believe me.”

Helman is among them.

“I would say, it doesn’t matter what level you’re at, the main goal is to win ballgames,” he said. “When you’re winning ballgames, that’s when you know everyone’s playing well and you’re clicking as a team. That’s what you want to see out of everybody.”

Briefly

Austin Martin was held out of the lineup for the third straight game after getting banged up while making a diving catch in center field. Gardenhire said it was mostly precautionary and expects Martin to play in the upcoming series in Louisville.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Manuel Margot hit an RBI triple to start a seven-run outburst in the 10th inning, and the Minnesota Twins ended a five-game losing streak with an 11-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

Margot led off the 10th with a triple to center field off a cutter from Ben Heller (0-1), scoring automatic runner Kyle Farmer. Willi Castro was hit by a pitch for a second time in the game, bringing in another run with the bases loaded and no outs. Carlos Santana tacked on two more with a double to right ahead of a two-run single from Carlos Correa and another single from Max Kepler that made it 11-4.

Heller, who plunked three batters, has an ERA of 49.50.

Jhoan Durán (1-2) pitched a perfect ninth inning.

The Twins were shut out in the first two games of the three-game series after being swept in three games at Yankee Stadium. The Pirates finished a 4-2 homestand that included winning two of three against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Jared Jones went five innings and allowed three runs — all in the first — on six hits for Pittsburgh.

The rookie right-hander was tagged with back-to-back singles from Trevor Larnach and Correa in the first before walking Kepler to load the bases with one out. José Miranda walked to force in the first run, Correa scored on a fielder’s choice and Kepler made it 3-0 on a passed ball.

Henry Davis and Andrew McCutchen walked with two outs in the Pirates fifth. Bryan Reynolds snuck an RBI double off Twins starter Bailey Ober just over a leaping Santana at first base and down the right-field line.

Connor Joe then sent a changeup to left-center for a two-run triple, putting the Pirates ahead 4-3 and ending Ober’s outing after 4 2/3 innings. He gave up four runs and seven hits.
Kyle Nicolas hit Castro with a pitch and walked Santana to load the bases with one out in the sixth. Justin Bruihl allowed a sacrifice fly by Royce Lewis, tying it 4-all.

Up next

Twins: RHP Chris Paddack (4-3, 5.26 ERA) will start Monday to begin a three-game home series against the Rockies. RHP Dakota Hudson (2-7, 5.25) goes for Colorado.