It wasn’t hard to spot Bridget’s Brigade when they walked into Hilton on Saturday afternoon.

Clad in cardinal shirts with a maple-leaf basketball on the front and waving Canadian flags, 42 friends and family members of Bridget Carleton made the bus trip down to Ames, arriving just over an hour before tip-off. They were treated to iowa State’s first home win since Dec. 28.

The Cyclones’ 69-57 win over the Big 12’s last-placed team was a bit of a stop-start affair, with both teams going through cold spells offensively and both teams failing to sustain momentum in the second half. Iowa State missed 17 3-point attempts and shot 25.8 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes, and Texas Tech shot 11-for-21 from the free throw line.

Two Cyclones stepped up to the plate when Iowa State struggled: Emily Durr and Bridget Carleton.

The Cyclones’ top two scorers on the year combined for 45 points on the afternoon and, in the post-game press conference, showed just how important this game was to Carleton.

Nearly getting choked-up while answering a question about her traveling fans, Carleton was overwhelmed by the amount of people that showed up to support her.

“A variety of people from all parts of my life came together,” Carleton said. “It’s special and it means a lot to me.”

Coach Bill Fennelly said that it was “exciting” to have Carleton’s friends and family see her have a big game, and mentioned the pride that Carleton has in her Canadian roots.

“They’re a huge part of what she’s about,” Fennelly said. “She’s so proud to represent her country.

“It just oozes out of her.”

The game started brightly on the offensive end. Both teams shot over 45 percent in the first 10 minutes, but the Cyclones used a very balanced offensive performance to take an eight point lead after the first quarter. Texas Tech lost the lead with seven minutes to play in the first quarter and never got it back.

Once the second quarter got underway, it was clear that Carleton and Durr were going to carry the Cyclones once again. At the half, Carleton and Durr had combined for 27 of Iowa State’s 42 points and 11 of the team’s 16 made field goals.

Carleton, despite a 2-for-10 outing from 3-point range, impressed the opposition as well as her home fans. Texas Tech interim head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller, who tried to recruit Carleton when she was an assistant at Nebraska, said that Carleton has gotten better than she ever dreamed.

“She’s impressive,” Gray-Miller said. “She’s one of the better players in our league, no doubt.”

The second half began with four straight points from Carleton, and the Cyclones stretched their lead to 51-32 with 6:52 left in the third. From that moment on, both teams struggled offensively, and the Cyclones ended up shooting 37.5 percent from the floor for the game.

On two occasions late in the fourth, Texas Tech trimmed the deficit to eight points, but a dagger 3-pointer from Emily Durr capped off the celebratory feel of the game and put any Lady Raiders comeback beyond doubt.

Durr had her fourth 20-point game of the year, and it was the first time all season long that Carleton and Durr both reached 20 points.

Durr said that they know it’s important for the two of them to create offense, and she couldn’t help but smile talking about Carleton’s big day.

“I think we’re just feeding off each other really well,” Durr said. “I’m just happy she had a great game today.”

The two clearly have a strong connection on the court, and today’s performance was a prime example of that chemistry. Carleton scored a couple of easy buckets after she was found making cuts into the lane by Durr. She had five of the team’s eight assists.

No other Cyclone scored more than eight points (freshman Madison Wise had eight on 3-for-9 shooting). Saturday, though, that didn’t matter. With a little piece of her hometown in the arena, Bridget Carleton helped the Cyclones make Hilton fans happy for the first time in six games.