Benet forward Lucy Tierney knew she didn’t have much time.

The 6-foot sophomore had just made a steal near her own foul line in the waning moments of the third quarter. She could hear her teammates counting down the seconds.

“I was just like, ‘I might as well chuck it,’” Tierney said. “There’s no point in giving it up, so I just shot and got lucky and it went in.”

Indeed, Tierney banked in a shot from half-court to beat the buzzer and end a crucial sequence which saw the Redwings take the lead for good in a 47-41 victory over Fremd at the Montini Christmas Tournament semifinals on Friday night.

Benet (11-1) advances to play Marist (14-2) in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Tierney, who finished with six points, six rebounds and two steals, said her buzzer-beating trey set the stage for the victory.

“I think it definitely got everyone energetic and re-excited to really go in strong to the fourth quarter,” Tierney said. “We played great as a team.”

The effort was necessary because neither team found much breathing room in a defensive slog. The Vikings (11-3) had taken a 29-28 lead on Greta Thompson’s inside hoop with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.

Senior reserve guard Macy Menendez responded by taking a cross-court pass from senior guard Sailer Jones and draining the go-ahead 3-pointer with 11 ticks left.

“For me, 3-point shooting is what I like to do,” said Menendez, who also finished with six points. “My first thought was definitely shoot a 3.

“I know it was a little far, but I went with it, shot it, and it was great. It definitely brought us momentum.”

Tierney stole the ball on the ensuing possession with about five seconds remaining and immediately began dribbling up the court. Her buzzer-beater gave Benet a 34-29 cushion and the Vikings never got closer than that.

“It was an amazing shot,” Menendez said. “It was so cool.”

Benet coach Joe Kilbride was impressed with how Tierney reacted as the clock ticked down.

“What I liked was her composure and clock awareness, because she got the ball somewhere down at their free-throw line, was dribbling advancing the ball,” Kilbride said. “A lot of times kids hear the 3,2,1 and just yank from wherever they’re at.

“It’s really a lot of time and she took advantage of it, got to halfcourt and let it go. As long as you can get a shot, that’s what you’re aiming for. It was great.”

The Redwings eventually stretched the lead to as large as nine points in the fourth quarter. Thompson, who had a game-high 17 points, and Sophia McMillen, who added 12 points, both sank 3-pointers in the final minute but the Vikings, who were missing starter Gracie Todd due to illness, never got closer than five points.

“They’re a fantastic team,” Fremd coach Jim Weaver said of Benet. “I feel we really showed well today, played really well.

“The girls fought. It’s all a blur at this point, but we’re really proud of how the kids played.”

Jones, Ava Mersinger and Emma Briggs all scored nine points to pace the Redwings, who also got six points and seven rebounds from Bridget Rifenburg to extend their winning streak to 11 games.

“We just won a game against a really good team and didn’t have anybody in double figures, which is a pretty extraordinary thing,” Kilbride said. “(The end of the third quarter) was a big little stretch because both teams were struggling to manufacture offense today.

“So when you get one of those fortunate little minutes where you make a couple in a row, it’s big.”

Now the Redwings will try to win their second Montini tournament title in a row.

“I’m excited,” Tierney said. “I’m excited. It’s fun. It’s the same feeling as last year, excited to get after it.”