Minnesota Lynx star rookie earns high praise from coaches and teammates after breaking a WNBA rookie record for made 3-pointers in a game and earning Rookie of the Month honors, but is more fueled by team success than individual accolades.
On Thursday, the Minnesota Lynx’s Olivia Miles captured her first (of what appears to be many) WNBA Rookie of The Month award. To most, that would be quite the accomplishment after averaging 15.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.9 assists throughout the month of May while pacing the Napheesa Collier-less Lynx to a league best 7-2 (now 8-2) record. However, for Miles, this award is just the beginning of what will be a long list of accolades, if her performance in a 87-84 victory against the Golden State Valkyries is any indication.
In the most electric performance I’ve ever seen by a W rook in person, Miles had 17 points (5-5 3PT), 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in the first thirteen minutes of basketball during the Lynx’ Commissioner’s Cup opening game win. Ultimately finishing with 28 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, and only 1 turnover, the 23-year old looked like she will be following in line behind another Lynx legend at the point guard position.
Rookie Draws High Praise
“I think some of the vision things are similar. I think she’s better, I think she is a better passer than I was,” Lynx assistant coach and Hall of Famer Lindsay Whalen said of Miles. “I work with Liv every single day, throughout the day and everything so it’s really been a lot of fun. So I’ll take the comparison”
The work that the team of Whalen and Miles have put in together was evident with her play against the Valkyries, especially playing out of pick and roll play. The TCU product and No. 2 overall pick of the most recent draft showed incredible timing and patience coming off of screens, made high level passes at near impossible angles, and did her best Steve Nash impression with probing the pick and roll. You’ve even seen aspects of CP3 in her with snaking picking rolls, which is a testament to the time that Miles has spent in the lab honing her craft.
Whalen added on the work she’s put in, “it’s been really fun to get to know her as a person and she’s always asking for more work and film and says thanks to me all the time for workouts and different things. So she’s awesome, so it’s just been fun to her and to continue to watch her grow.”
OLIVIA MILES TONIGHT
• 28 POINTS
• 7 ASSISTS
• 4 REBOUNDS
• 3 BLOCKS
• 8/11 3PM (!!!!)
• 9/16 FG
• 28 MINUTES PLAYED pic.twitter.com/TOvIzcmxhu— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) June 5, 2026
Rookie 3-Point Record Set
While I personally am fascinated with her unbelievable IQ playing out of ball screens, it was Miles’ 3-point shooting that stole the show during last night’s nationally televised broadcast on Prime. While Liv’s shot is far from broke (she shot 41 percent from three as a junior at Notre Dame and 35 percent during her final year at TCU), she had not made more than two three pointers yet in an NBA game. The Valkyries played her for her shot, and she made them pay with eight threes (on 11 attempts) and a W.
Miles’ performance broke a WNBA single-game shooting record for rookies. Two rookies previously nailed seven 3-pointers in a game: the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark in 2024 and the New York Liberty’s Crystal Robinson in 1999.
“Our last few games, we feel like she’s gotten opportunities to shoot the ball. She’s a good shooter and it’s an afterthought,” Hall of Fame Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve explained of Miles’ record-breaking performance. “We had been trending towards her being confident to take shots and when she saw a couple go down, it felt like she was playing Baylor I guess.”
Kayla McBride added: “They kept going under and she kept taking advantage. She’s been so good at getting downhill and creating in the paint. They tried to stop her, but she just took advantage with her [three point] shots.”
WNBA Rookie of The Month, a career night, and most importantly a W in the Commissioner’s Cup. It’s the first in what will be a long line of personal accolades, but the infectious team first mentality that Miles brings to the table is unlike what you see from most rookies and will be essential in a potential Lynx championship run.
“It’s cool. It means I am doing something great, but more importantly, it means we”re winning and doing something great as a team. That’s what I’m most proud of. The individual awards will come,” Miles said in the post game presser in regard to her first award. “I think it’s just a testament to my mindset and confidence. I think that it’s a lot of inner work to believe in yourself and to constantly remind yourself that you deserve to be where you’re at. Cheryl has my back and my teammates have my back, so it’s easy when you have that kind of support.”
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