When ISU women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly and his coaching staff sit in their offices in the Sukup Basketball Complex, an occasional faint sound trickles into the lofted space. 

It’s the soft thud of a basketball hitting the hardwood, and by the choice of music and Fennelly’s knowledge of his players, he knows exactly who it is. 

“You always know who’s playing because of the music that’s on,” Fennelly said. “The ball is bouncing, and there’s Bridget [Carleton]. There’s not a lot of balls bouncing sometimes in that gym, but Bridget’s in there all the time.” 

That rugged work ethic has garnered Carleton some impressive accolades in her freshman season at Iowa State. Carleton, a Chatam, Ontario, Canada, native, earned yet another Big 12 Freshman of the Week award Monday, her fifth of the season, tying the ISU all-time record.

It was Iowa State’s sixth Big 12 Freshman of the Week award overall. 

Although the team has struggled in Big 12 play — especially recently, dropping eight of its last nine games — Carleton has been one of the bright spots in the lineup. 

Carleton leads Big 12 freshmen with 12.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, and over the course of the season, she has steadily improved. Her gains as a basketball players led her to one of her best games against TCU on Saturday.

She grabbed 19 rebounds, which was the fourth-highest game total in ISU history, while scoring 14 points and dishing a career-high four assists. 

Carleton sits second on the team in points per game despite a low-ranked shooting percentage, but the rebounding aspect of her game hadn’t come around until the last few weeks. 

“In the women’s game, you’ve got to have a little bit of whatever to go get it,” Fennelly said. “And [Carleton] had that on Saturday and that’s something that we’ve tried to get her to a little more because she is capable. She’s got a little [former Cyclone] Megan Taylor in her. She’s got a little bit of Seanna [Johnson] in her in the sense of she goes and gets the ball.” 

Carleton’s play on the court and her steady improvement has put her in front of the pack for the Big 12 Freshman of the Year award. 

If it was up to Fennelly, Carleton would be a shoo-in for the award, not just for her performance, but because of her performance with a relatively weak surrounding cast. 

“If she’s not Freshman of the Year in the Big 12, there’s something wrong. I’m sorry,” Fennelly said. “The thing about it is she’s doing it on a team that doesn’t have a lot of experience around her. It’s not like she kinda — you know, we’ve had players come in and have great seniors around them. Bridget doesn’t have that.”

Carleton also has freshman forward Meredith Burkhall’s vote for the award. Burkhall has the only other Big 12 Freshman of the Week award for the Cyclones this season. 

“I think she has a good chance of getting it. I think she’s playing really well,” Burkhall said. “Just from freshman to freshman, I’m just proud of her.” 

Even with all of the attention focused on her, Carleton still knows the rest of the season will be crucial for her development. One aspect of her game that has disappointed her is her shooting percentage. 

As long as she has that drive to improve different aspects of her game, the soft thud will continue to ricochet off of the brick walls of the Sukup Basketball Complex.

“I’m just trying to do what it takes to help the team win,” Carleton said. “Whether it means I’m scoring or rebounding, whatever it takes. Freshmans of the week, they just come and go, but yeah, we’ll see [if I win the award].”