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Kayla McBride Stands Alone: The Long Quest to Hit 10 Three-Pointers in a WNBA Game

McBride scored a career-high 43 points with a WNBA record 10 three-pointers in Minnesota’s win on Sunday.
Kayla McBride set a WNBA record for the most three-pointers in a WNBA game
Kayla McBride set a WNBA record for the most three-pointers in a WNBA game | David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

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They don’t call her “McBuckets” for nothing.

Star Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride lifted the WNBA’s best squad to a 103–90 win over Paige Bueckers and the Wings on Sunday, when McBride set a single-game record with 10 three-pointers and also dropped a career-high 43 points, having gone 16-for-21 from the floor and 10-for-14 from deep.

The historic performance marked the first time a WNBA player hit double-digit three-pointers in a single game—though there have been plenty of close calls as of late. Toronto’s Marina Mabrey made nine threes in a game twice this year, while Aces star guard Chelsea Gray came one shy of 10 triples once this season, too.

As three-point shooting outbursts become commonplace across the W, it is fitting that McBride was the one to break the single-game record. Alongside Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell, McBride has been the best distance shooter when you factor in volume and efficiency. Entering Sunday, Minnesota’s sharpshooter had averaged 17.6 points per game while connecting on 40.5% of her 6.7 three-point attempts per night. The 10 treys on Sunday bumped her to an even 100 on the year, now first in the WNBA ahead of Rhyne Howard (95) and Mitchell (93).

McBride now stands alone in the record books after her career night, which gave the Lynx their 12th win over the past 13 games. Minnesota also improved its record to 27–7 and is sitting atop the WNBA with a comfortable cushion. The team’s excellent season has been defined by the superior play of rookie star Olivia Miles and, more recently, the duo of Miles and Napheesa Collier. McBride, meanwhile, was an All-Star snub after Miles, Natasha Howard and Courtney Williams—all having great years of their own—represented the Lynx.

Despite that, it's unmistakable that McBride’s career campaign proved crucial in keeping Minnesota afloat without Collier for the first half of the season. Sunday brought another signature performance for the veteran guard, and the Lynx are now the first team to clinch a playoff spot this season.

Kayla McBride becomes WNBA’s first player to make 10 threes in a game

Kayla McBrid
Kayla McBride dropped a career-high 43 points on Sunday | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While plenty of players have come close to McBride’s new mark of 10 threes in a game, especially over the past couple of seasons, nobody else has gone all the way. Mitchell was the first player to reach nine triples in a game, a feat she accomplished during her second season with the Fever in 2019. That stood as the WNBA record for four years, until Jewell Loyd joined the party with nine treys in a 39-point performance with the Storm in 2023.

Over the past two seasons, there have been six instances—including McBride’s record on Sunday—of a player making nine threes in a game. Younger players like Howard, Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark have prompted this W-wide three-point barrage as of late, but it was the 33-year-old veteran McBride who got the job done.

Here’s a look every WNBA player to hit eight or more three-pointers in a game, with McBride the first to hit 10 as of Sunday:

Player

No. of three-pointers

Date

Team

Kayla McBride

10

Aug. 9, 2026

Minnesota Lynx

Marina Mabrey

9

June 25, 2026

Toronto Tempo

Marina Mabrey

9

June 19, 2026

Toronto Tempo

Chelsea Gray

9

June 11, 2026

Las Vegas Aces

Rhyne Howard

9

Sept. 5, 2025

Atlanta Dream

Rhyne Howard

9

June 13, 2025

Atlanta Dream

Arike Ogunbowale

9

Sept. 1, 2024

Dallas Wings

Jewell Loyd

9

July 11, 2023

Seattle Storm

Kelsey Mitchell

9

Sept. 8, 2019

Indiana Fever

Olivia Miles

8

June 4, 2026

Minnesota Lynx

Rhyne Howard

8

June 2, 2026

Atlanta Dream

Kalya McBride

8

Aug. 2, 2025

Minnesota Lynx

Rachel Banham

8

July 14, 2024

Connecticut Sun

Kayla McBride

8

June 7, 2024

Minnesota Lynx

Sabrina Ionescu

8

June 9, 2023

New York Liberty

Jewell Loyd

8

June 3, 2023

Seattle Storm

Jewell Loyd

8

Aug. 14, 2022

Seattle Storm

Diana Taurasi

8

Sept. 3, 2020

Phoenix Mercury

Leilani Mitchell

8

July 30, 2019

Phoenix Mercury

Renee Montgomery

8

Aug. 12, 2018

Atlanta Dream

Shekinna Stricklen

8

July 22, 2018

Connecticut Sun

Diana Taurasi

8

June 1, 2017

Phoenix Mercury

Riquna Williams

8

Sept. 8, 2013

Tulsa Shock

Diana Taurasi

8

May 25, 2010

Phoenix Mercury

Diana Taurasi

8

Aug. 10, 2006

Phoenix Mercury

When Diana Taurasi became the first WNBA player to make eight threes in a game, she held the single-game record outright for seven seasons. Riquna Williams joined her seven years later, but Taurasi held at least a share of the record for 13 years, until Mitchell’s big game in 2019. And the Fever superstar held at least a share of that record for nearly seven years.

Now, we'll see how long McBride’s three-point record will stand. But if the league’s past has shown us anything, it’s that it's only a matter of time before she has some company. Nobody else can say that they were there first, though.


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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a writer at Sports Illustrated, primarily covering the NBA and WNBA. Before joining SI in November 2024 as a breaking/trending news writer, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation and A10Talk. He’s an alum of both Michigan State and St. Bonaventure University, receiving a master’s degree from the Bonnies’ sports journalism program. Outside of work, he’s a husband, father, yogi and fairly mediocre tennis player who’s open to any tips on how to play defense in EA Sports College Football.