Jan. 29, 2007

The Student-Athlete of the Week allows fans to learn more about the student-athletes who represent St. Bonaventure University. This week's edition features Audrey Latendresse, a 6-1 forward from Repetigny, Quebec, who is the only senior on the women's basketball team. Latendresse is enjoying her most successful season, leading the team in scoring and, more importantly, leading the Bonnies to a 12-9 mark as of Jan. 29.

Are you finding yourself thinking about the end to your St. Bonaventure career?
Yeah, there are only 10 games left. I always just look at one game at a time to make sure that I am prepared, but yes, it's coming fast. I never thought that it would come. During my freshman year, I said, "let's do one year," and see if I could adapt to everything. Now here I am four years later, and I don't want to leave.

What were the aspects of your game you focused on in the off-season to ensure this would be your best year on the court?
The main thing would be consistency. In the past, I would have some really strong games. Then the next time out, I would only have two points. I have been just trying to make sure I make the right plays when it's important. In the past, we were losing games we should have won. This season, we are winning those games.

How do you define being more consistent?
For myself, it's just being more confident and telling myself that I can do it while not over-thinking the situation. I have also been focusing more on myself. I still want to help my teammates on the defensive end, but still focus on my assignments.

Being the only senior on this year's team, do you feel any pressure to be the leader?
It's really not about me. I do not feel any more pressure. I know I have more experience and I am older than my teammates, and I just try to bring that to every game and every practice. But there are other leaders on this team, and there are different types of leadership. If someone is having a bad day, one of us will go up to them and tell them to take a deep breath and just go for it. Everybody is helping everybody.

Is this team's chemistry the best you've experienced here?
Yeah, it has been the best since I've been here. It has never been bad. Everyone gets along with each other and you can get help from anybody and count on anyone.

Did the team set a goal for being successful in the classroom? How proud are you to be the number one team on campus in terms of GPA last semester?
We never explicitly said that we need to be the best ... if someone is struggling, then we help each other out, but you cannot know until the end of the semester what everyone's final GPA will be. We knew that everyone would have above a 3.0, but to hear it was a 3.6, we were all like, "Wow!" Everybody on the team just wants to do well in the classroom.