Benet guard Emma Lyne learned a thing or two from backing up Elise Stout last season.
Lyne did a pretty good impersonation Wednesday. The 5-foot-8 senior scored 10 points to help the host Redwings beat Marian Catholic 62-42 in an East Suburban Catholic Conference opener.
Seven of Lyne’s points came in the second quarter, when she scored twice off a pair of steals in the full-court press.
“Definitely, I learned from Elise,” Lyne said of Stout. “She was the best at that last year.
“In the second quarter the coaches were telling me to rotate early, so I was going as early as possible, anticipating the pass and got those steals. I think that was a good push for us.”
Indeed, Benet (9-1, 1-0) needed a spark on a night when the Redwings struggled with shooting and rebounding. Benet was playing its third game in five days and has four players battling the flu.
Marian (2-7, 0-1) took advantage and led 12-8 before junior Tsimba Malonga buried a 3-pointer for Benet. She then stole an inbound pass and fed Katie Jaseckas for a layup to end the first quarter.
That was the beginning of a 13-0 run, ignited when Lyne started the second quarter with a steal and three-point play and followed it by another steal and a layup. She later added a 3-pointer to make it 23-14.
“Emma is a really smart kid,” Benet coach Joe Kilbride said. “She’s one of those who absolutely gets what we’re doing and she’s kind of always in the right place, similar to Elise in that regard.
“We needed the press to get some turnovers and easy buckets and get some separation.”
The Redwings led 31-21 at halftime but didn’t get the separation they wanted until embarking on a 12-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters.
Jaseckas got it going by scoring inside off a feed from Ali Kramer and then fired a crosscourt pass to Lyne, who drained the three from the left wing.
A steal and layup by Malonga and a 3-pointer by Kendal Schramek padded the cushion to 47-30 early in the fourth quarter.
Malonga led a balanced attack with 14 points, while Jaseckas added 13 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Brooke Schramek chipped in 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Schramek’s sister Kendal, a senior, and Clara Prasse both had six points.
Freshman Kennedy Harrell paced Marian with 16 points and six rebounds.
“It was pretty tough,” Lyne said. “A lot of us were tired, some of us were getting sick, so we were trying to push through all that. It wasn’t our best win. It wasn’t very clean but we worked really hard and pulled one out.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.
