Jessica Shepard

Jessica Shepard
No. 32 – Athinaikos
Position	Forward
League	Greek Women's Basketball League
Personal information
Born	September 11, 1996 (age 28); Fremont, Nebraska, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	186 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school	Lincoln Southeast (Lincoln, Nebraska); Fremont (Fremont, Nebraska);
College	Nebraska (2015–2017); Notre Dame (2017–2019);
WNBA draft	2019: 2nd round, 16th overall pick
	Selected by the Minnesota Lynx
Playing career	2019–present
Career history
2019–2023	Minnesota Lynx
2021–2022	Dinamo Sassari
2022–2024	Reyer Venezia
2024–present	Athinaikos
Career highlights and awards
	NCAA champion (2018); Lega Basket Femminile champion (2024); Third-team All-American – AP (2019); 2× First-team All-ACC (2018, 2019); First-team All-Big Ten (2016); Second-team All-Big Ten (2017); Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2016); Big Ten All-Freshman Team (2016);
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Women's Basketball
Representing United States
U18 Americas Championship

Jessica Shepard (born September 11, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for Athinaikos of the Greek Women's Basketball League. Shepard began her college career at Nebraska, playing there for two seasons before transferring to Notre Dame to complete her career. She was drafted 16th overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2019 WNBA draft.

Family and early years

A Fremont, Nebraska native, Shepard is the daughter of Mark and Kim Shepard.^[1] She has four sisters and one older brother.^[1] Shepard won a state title while attending Lincoln Southeast High School in 2013, and finished her high school career at Fremont.^[2]

WNBA

Minnesota Lynx (2019–present)

Shepard was selected 16th overall in the 2nd round of the 2019 WNBA Draft. Shepard appeared in 5 games of the 2019 season, and averaged 4.6 ppg. On June 8, 2019, in a game against the Los Angeles Sparks, it was determined Shepard had torn her ACL, effectively ending her rookie season.^[3]

Shepard missed the 2020 season as she continued to recovery from her ACL injury that she sustained in 2019.^[4]

Shepard was suspended for and subsequently missed the entire 2024 season. This was due to contract commitments with her basketball club in Italy, Umana Reyer Venezia and violating the WNBA collective bargaining agreement which requires players to prioritize the WNBA over other international leagues.^[5]

National team career

On June 19, 2024, the Basketball Federation of Slovenia announced that Shepard had received Slovenian citizenship and became eligible to play for the Slovenia women's national basketball team.^[6]

WNBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2019	Minnesota	6	0	18.7	.379	.143	.750	5.7	3.5	0.3	0.2	2.5	4.8
2021	Minnesota	22	0	10.5	.364	.083	.750	3.2	1.7	0.1	0.2	0.8	2.0
2022	Minnesota	36	22	26.1	.500	.250	.734	7.4	3.0	0.4	0.3	1.7	8.1
2023	Minnesota	21	17	26.9	.516	.000	.774	7.0	3.1	0.6	0.1	1.4	8.1
Career	4 years, 1 team	85	39	21.8	.482	.178	.749	6.1	2.7	0.4	0.2	1.5	6.3

Nebraska and Notre Dame statistics

Source^[7]

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2015–16	Nebraska	31	574	51.0%	0.0%	58.1%	8.6	1.9	0.6	0.6	18.5
2016–17	Nebraska	29	538	40.8%	31.5%	55.7%	9.8	1.9	0.5	0.2	18.6
2017–18	Notre Dame	38	594	56.5%	0.0%	67.9%	8.1	2.4	0.8	0.7	15.6
2018–19	Notre Dame	38	634	59.4%	0.0%	71.0%	10.3	3.3	1.4	0.5	16.7
Career		136	2340	51.6%	29.5%	62.4%	9.2	2.4	0.9	0.5	17.2

Notes

^ ^a ^b "Jessica Shepard". University of Notre Dame. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
^ writers, Stu Pospisil, Mike Patterson and Nick Rubek / World-Herald staff (3 June 2015). "Notes: Fremont's Jessica Shepard named All-American; more". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 2023-03-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ "Lynx F Shepard out rest of season with torn ACL". ESPN. Associated Press. June 9, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
^ Hansen, Mitchell (27 May 2020). "Minnesota Lynx Announce Final Roster Moves Ahead of 2020 WNBA Season". zonecoverage.com. Zone Coverage. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
^ "Lynx's Jessica Shepard to miss 2024 season". 31 January 2024.
^ "Josh Nebo receives Slovenian passport, will join men's team". basketnews.com. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-05-25.

External links

Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com and Basketball Reference

[UND-1] "Jessica Shepard". University of Notre Dame. Retrieved April 24, 2019.

[2] writers, Stu Pospisil, Mike Patterson and Nick Rubek / World-Herald staff (3 June 2015). "Notes: Fremont's Jessica Shepard named All-American; more". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 2023-03-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[3] "Lynx F Shepard out rest of season with torn ACL". ESPN. Associated Press. June 9, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2019.

[4] Hansen, Mitchell (27 May 2020). "Minnesota Lynx Announce Final Roster Moves Ahead of 2020 WNBA Season". zonecoverage.com. Zone Coverage. Retrieved 7 July 2021.

[5] "Lynx's Jessica Shepard to miss 2024 season". 31 January 2024.

[6] "Josh Nebo receives Slovenian passport, will join men's team". basketnews.com. Retrieved 2024-11-07.

[7] "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-05-25.

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