With each practice and each game, Chantal St. Laurent gets closer to the end of her college basketball career. It is a fact of which she can’t help but be cognizant.

“I’ve been having it in the back of my mind,” said St. Laurent. “It really just hit me last week as we were going through preparations for the season. It hit me that this is my last opening game in my college career. It makes me want to work that much harder, knowing it is my last time and the last chance to do anything like this.”

St. Laurent has certainly made the best of her opportunities at Lehigh University. With her final season just underway, the former Lewiston three-sport standout hopes to make an already impressive college experience that much better.

“I’m so excited for the season,” said St. Laurent. “There’s a real sense of urgency for me being my last year. I just want to take it all in. I know next year I’m not going to have this.”

St. Laurent is one of five seniors and the team’s starting point guard, where her tenacious defense and leadership in the backcourt is a driving force.

“She’s just a great person,” said Lehigh women’s coach Sue Troyan. “She’s just excelled at everything at Lehigh. Academically, she’s excelled. Leadership-wise, she’s excelled. Basketball-wise, she’s done a great job.

“She’s been a pleasure. I could take 15 of Chantal any day. She’s a special kid, and she’s meant a lot to the program.”

St. Laurent competes with two others for playing time in the backcourt. With the Mountain Hawks not boasting much size, the ability of the guards to push the tempo is crucial.

“Chantal has a tremendous work ethic and is a tremendous leader on the floor,” said Troyan. “She’s a sparkplug out on the floor. She’s just a really big spark in what we do.”

St. Laurent is trying to finish her career on a strong note. She was limited by injury the last seven weeks of last season.

“Last year I had stress fractures, which really set me back,” she said. “I was feeling confident in my game. Everything was working for me and when I realized I had stress fractures, they had to limit my time.”

St. Laurent played in 28 games last year and started 11. She led the team in both assists and steals. She’s limiting her practice time and off-day routines this season, and she feels closer to 100 percent as a result.

Feeling more comfortable with the Division I level also makes a difference this year. At Lewiston, she was the all-time leading scorer in soccer and led the basketball and tennis teams to great success. Still, making the jump to Division I wasn’t easy.

“I couldn’t have been more unprepared for the adjustment,” said St. Laurent. “Playing three sports, I always looked forward to the next season. There was always something else coming.”

Since going to Lehigh, it’s been all basketball. It was a challenge having to concentrate on one sport. She says five hours of the day can be consumed with basketball-related activities.

“When you come in, you have to learn a whole new system,” said St. Laurent. “You have to learn everything all over again for the first time. You’re taking baby steps. You make adjustments, and you grow from it.”

As a freshman, she played 24 games and started in 14. She was among the Patriot League leaders with 38 steals. Her sophomore year, she didn’t start but played in 25 games.

“You come in as a freshman and you learn the system,” said St. Laurent, whose been a Dean’s list student and a Patriot League All-Academic Honor Roll selection. “As a sophomore, you’re a veteran, and you have to make fewer mistakes, and you have to be a leader. As a junior you have more of a sense of urgency, and there’s more responsibility.”

With each year, her improvement has been greater. She’s always been an athletic player with great energy and determination. Her understanding of a new system took time. Troyan says that she was a tremendous athlete that has developed into a basketball player.

“She’s got great athleticism, and she can go and go and go,” said Troyan. “It’s knowing when to go and when not to go. I think her overall understanding of the game has improved.”

A Psychology major, she’ll stay at Lehigh another year to attend graduate school and earn a Master’s in Education. Her interest is in becoming a guidance counselor.

First, there’s more basketball to be played. Lehigh tied its record for most League wins last year and reached the semifinals. St. Laurent is determined to do what she can to take the success a little further.

“This year’s there’s more leadership involved,” she said. “I kind of want to get everyone on the bandwagon with me, like in work ethic and heart and desire. So we can get the job done and can win a Patriot League championship.”