MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Lynx have re-signed guard Rachel Banham, the team announced today in Paul. The terms of the deal were not made public, as is team policy.
Banham, a native of Lakeville, Minnesota, finished her third season with the Lynx, ranking seventh in the WNBA. She was one of three players in 2022 to play in all 36 games (five starts), joining Bridget Carleton and Jessica Shepard. While shooting 43.0% from the field and 38.3% (57-for-149) from three-point range, Banham averaged 7.9 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. On July 12 against Phoenix, the 5-10 guard scored 25 points (6-of-9 from three) and had seven assists, both of which were season highs.
After a distinguished career at the University of Minnesota, where she finished as the Big Ten’s all-time leading scorer (men or women) with 3,093 points, Banham was selected by Connecticut in the first round (fourth overall) of the WNBA Draft in 2016. Banham, the 2016 Big Ten Player of the Year, made a school record 354 three-pointers in her career and finished second in the nation in scoring as a senior (28.6 points per game), highlighted by a 60-point performance against Northwestern on Feb. 7 that tied an NCAA record. She was a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award and was named to the Associated Press and U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s First Team All-American teams.
In 190 games over seven seasons, Banham averaged 5.2 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists.
In her professional career, Banham participated in 11 games across five trips to the WNBA Playoffs, including the 2019 WNBA Finals. She averages 3.8 points in the postseason in 10.4 minutes per game.
