“Number 21 — went number 21, maybe there is a little karma there.”
Canadian Bridget Carleton (Chatham, Ont.) was selected 21st overall (2nd round,9th pick) by the Connecticut Sun at the 2019 WNBA Draft.
Carleton concluded arguably the best season by a Canadian woman at the NCAA division one level — culminating a spectacular career as the best small forward in the country earning the recipient of the 2019 Cheryl Miller award and Big 12 player of the year award — a first for a Cyclones player and a Canadian.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be drafted by the Connecticut Sun,” Carleton said. ” They have a great franchise and an amazing coaching staff. I can’t wait to get there, soak it all in and work as hard as I can. I am looking forward to starting this chapter of my basketball career.” —
In four years with Cyclones the 6’1″ guard racked-up almost every accolade possible, including consecutive unanimous all-Big 12 awards (2017-18) including fifteen conference player of the week awards in her career.
Consistent throughout her NCAA collegiate career, Carleton averaged a career-best 21.4 points per game, alongside 8.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.3 blocks while improving her already impressive shooting numbers to 46.3% from field, 37% from three-pointers and 85.4 the foul-line.
Starting in 121 out of a possible 124 games for Iowa State, Carleton came-up eight-points shy of the school’s all-time scoring mark with 2142 points — failing to score under 19 points in a game just once in the 18-game Big 12 conference schedule.
If it all goes according to plan, Iowa State could become the first NCAA school to have multiple Canadians selected in the WNBA and NBA drafts’ in the same year.
Both Marial Shayok (Ottawa) and Lindell Wigginton (Nova Scotia) who played crucial in the Cyclones men’s basketball program also declared in for the 2019 NBA Draft and strong cases for being selected in second-round.
Carleton’s selection marks the fifth straight year a Canadian has been drafted into the world’s best professional basketball league. Kia Nurke (2018) Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (2017), Adut Bulgak (2016), Ruth Hamblin (2016), Nirra Fields (2016), Natalie Anchonwa (2015)
Lastly, she is the first Canadian to be drafted out of the Big 12 since Canada’s highest WNBA pick — Stacey Dales out of the Oklahoma Sooners went third overall to the Washington Mystics back in 2002.
