“From the first time I talked to Bridget, she was focused on representing Canada in the Olympics.” Bridget Carleton’s former Iowa State head coach, Bill Fenelly described his first encounter with the trailblazing Canadian star perfectly. The college basketball career of Bridget Carleton speaks volumes of her versatile potential for someone who takes pride in her game.

Selected as the 21st overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft, Carleton has played an instrumental role in contributing towards the game while she developed herself in the league with grace that has led her to this year’s Commissioner’s Cup victory as a part of the Minnesota Lynx. And now, she has been named to the Canadian National Team for the second time and is set to play in Paris. So, let’s take a trip down memory lane and recall how this remarkable athlete polished herself.

Bridget Carleton represented her country at various levels

Born in May 1997, the Chatham, Ontario native Bridget Carleton attended the local John McGregor Secondary School. During those 4 years, Carleton played for Canada Basketball for the U16, U17, U18, and U19 teams. She was the captain of the 2013 U16 and the 2014 U17 Cadette National Teams and the U19 Women’s National Team in her senior year.

In her junior year, she made it to the starting five of the U18 Junior National Team and played 27 games, averaging 12.3 points. Leading the Women’s National Team in her senior season, she averaged 28.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 3.1 steals per game.

This led her to multiple Athlete of the Year honors. Although her focus was basketball, she didn’t lag in the academic or community aspects and hence was presented with the Jack Parry Award for excellence in athletics, academics, and community.

However, there has been another side to her athletic personality back home, i.e. Carleton is a bearer of talents for multi-sports. She plays badminton and is the winner of the LKSSAA badminton title in girls’ doubles. In 2015, the 6-foot-1 forward embarked on her college basketball career with the Iowa State Cyclones women’s basketball team.

Carleton making her presence felt at Iowa State

Coming off as a top 2015 prospect from Canada, Bridget Carleton started her college basketball career with a bang. In the season opener, she put out a 28-point game and became the first Cyclone to score the most points in their career debut in the program’s history. She registered her first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds in a game against Drake. With this performance, she made her presence felt well for the opponents to come. As a result, she joined the starting lineup for 25 games.

In those 27 games, she averaged 12 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. Simply put, her presence on the Cyclones roster made it one of the best freshman seasons in the program’s history. That season she tallied 323 points, 136 rebounds, 47 assists, 25 steals, and 21 blocks.

Getting familiar with the program as a rookie, she improved her numbers in her sophomore year. She averaged 15 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.2 steals and a block per game. Out of those 30 games, she registered double-figure scores in 24 games. She successfully established her name among the key players for the Cyclones.

Carleton ranked 2nd across the nation with a free throw percentage of 93.9%, as she made 42 straight free throws. With these free throw percentage figures, she ranked 18th in the NCAA all-time records, 3rd in Big 12 all-time, and 1st in the program’s history. She concluded the season with 92-of-98 free throws, 465 points, 176 rebounds, 56 assists, 38 steals, and 31 blocks.

Her game kept improving and the next feat came in her junior season when she was named to the AP All-America honorable mention, becoming the 9th Cyclone to be recognized by the Associated Press. She started all 31 games and averaged 19.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. Scoring 594 points in the season, she climbed the program’s record books to 3rd position. Similarly, her 201 field goals made led her to 4th position in the program’s history and her 69 steals placed her on no. 6 in all-time ISU’s record books.

Then came her senior season when she posed the most powerful small forward, starting in all 35 games and averaging 21.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game. As a senior, she put together the best-ever season by any player in Iowa State’s history. Hence, she was presented the Cheryl Miller Award as the country’s leading small forward.

Also, she was named a member of the Naismith Starting Five besides earning the Big 12 Player of the Year honors and several All-American honors. She concluded her college basketball career with 2142 points (8 points shy of ISU’s all-time scoring record), 863 rebounds, 349 assists, 124 blocks, and 211 steals.

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