Emma O’Brien spent the last three seasons as Nora Ezike’s running mate on highly successful Lyons teams that won a combined 79 games and three regional titles.

But Ezike is gone now, a freshman at Stanford.

It is O’Brien’s team now, and there is nobody Lyons would rather have with the ball in her hands late than the 6-foot senior and Cornell commit.

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Lyons Township’s Emma O'Brien (43) drives to the basket between Benet’s Bridget Rifenburg (22) and Ava Thomas (5) during a game on November 18, 2025 at Benet Academy in Lisle. (Jon Cunningham for Shaw Local News Network)

Such was the case in the season opener. O’Brien had two free throws with 4.2 seconds left, down one, after Lyons had trailed by seven with less than two minutes left at Benet.

“Just take some deep breaths,” O’Brien said. “I know I can make those free throws. Just believe in myself and have confidence.”

Lyons should have a nice shot of confidence after this one.

O’Brien swished both free throws, capping off a 21-point night, and the Lions rallied in improbable fashion for a 54-53 win at Benet.

Lyons trailed 50-43 with 1:51 left, but in a wild finish the lead changed hands three times in the final 22.6 seconds.

“I didn’t even know the score,” O’Brien said. “We just wanted to win so bad. We were confident in ourselves. We knew we could come back. We didn’t realize the score, which I think played a big part.”

Gwen Smith added 12 points and freshman Kennedy Moore seven for Lyons. Richmond recruit Bridget Rifenburg scored 24 points, Macy Menendez 11 and Furman commit Emma Briggs eight for Benet.

Lyons coach Meghan Hutchens has been questioned plenty how her team will look without Ezike, last year’s Suburban Life Player of the Year and an all-state first-teamer.

A game like this one is an affirmation of the faith Hutchens has in this group. The Lions overcame 18 turnovers, but none in the fourth quarter.

“Nora is a very good player, a player hard to stop – but it doesn’t mean we are any less than we were. We are just different," Hutchens said. “We’re not the same team, we’re just different. But this win is huge, absolutely. A lot of our girls have grown up playing their girls and they battled hard.”

The sweet-shooting O’Brien was limited to just three 3-point attempts, and one make. But she showcased the rest of her game and scored 12 of her 21 in the fourth quarter.

“She has been waiting her turn to be the top instead of always the Nora and Emma show,” Hutchens said. “She made some great moves around the basket, finished the opposite side. That is a testament to how much work she has put in.”

O’Brien was 7 for 12 from the field and 6 of 8 from the free throw line, five of the free-throw makes in the fourth quarter.

“I shot really well last year and I know people are going to try to run me off the 3-point line. I expected that coming into the year,” O’Brien said. “I worked for this. I trusted myself getting to the basket. I know I can finish and make free throws.”

Of Lyons’ eight girls to play Tuesday, two were freshmen and one a sophomore.

Moore was huge late, making two free throws with 1:04 left and followed a teammate’s miss to tie it 50-50 with 46.8 seconds left.

“Big blocks, big plays. She did miss one of our calls, but you’re going to get that when you have freshmen with inexperience,” Hutchens said. “I thought both of them handled things very well. I’m excited to see their growth the next few years, even this season.”

Benet led 30-27 at halftime, 40-37 through three quarters and took its biggest lead at 50-43 on a Menendez 3-pointer with 1:51 left.

But the Redwings turned it over on back-to-back possessions in the final two minutes, and missed four free throws in the fourth quarter. Menendez scored with 11.8 seconds left to give Benet its last lead.

“We were in foul trouble – I think we were just trying to survive, spread them out a little bit,“ Benet coach Joe Kilbride said. ”And then between turnovers and fouls, missed rebounds – we missed a couple free throws, they made theirs. It’s not complicated, it’s just unfortunate."

The loss overshadowed a spectacular performance by Rifenburg, the lone remnant from Benet’s state runner-up from three years ago.

The 6-foot senior guard just returned a week ago from a broken finger suffered during flag football. But she was tremendous scoring around the rim and also had five rebounds.

“Honestly, we’ve all been beat up. Emma hasn’t practiced for a week until yesterday, Bridget’s only been with us a week,” Kilbride said. “She’s so long, she’s slowed down, she can get into the paint and reads what the defenses give her. I thought she was really good.”