Hall of Fame
O'Brien, a native of Livonia, Mich., and graduate of Livonia Ladywood HS, was one of Wayne State's top female student-athletes in the early 1980's. She earned four varsity letters playing women's basketball in 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83 and 1983-84, and received two varsity letters while participating on the women's tennis squad in 1983 and 1984. It is as a member of the Tartars' women's basketball squad that O'Brien is being honored with induction into the Wayne State Athletic Hall of Fame. O'Brien earned All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) recognition three times in her basketball career. She earned First Team status as a junior and senior, and was an honorable mention pick as a sophomore. During her Wayne career O'Brien set six career, one single-season and one single-game basketball records. Among her career records was for most points, 1,231, shattering the old record then held by Stephanie Stone, who was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993. O'Brien's other career marks were for most games played with 112, most field goals made with 533, most field goals attempted with 1,420, highest free throw percentage at 70.5, and most rebounds with 731. She also finished third in career assists (257), fifth in free throws made (165), and eighth in free throws attempted (234). Her single-season record was for the highest free throw percentage. In 1983-84 O'Brien converted 56 of 68 attempts for an 82.4 completion mark. Her single-game record occurred against Grand Valley State on Jan. 12, 1984. O'Brien successfully made all 12 free throws attempted for a 100.0 conversion percentage mark. Of these records only her single-game and career record for most field goal attempts still stand in the Tartar Record Book. Her 1,231 career points rank her third currently on the all-time scoring list. O'Brien was a team co-captain her junior and senior seasons. Both of those teams finished third in the GLIAC women's basketball race. As a freshman O'Brien started all 28 games on the Tartars' last GLIAC championship team, as WSU won its second straight conference crown with a team-record 23 wins. During her college career O'Brien started in all but four games, all during her sophomore year. In both her junior and senior years she finished second to Januszkiewicz in scoring on the squad. O'Brien averaged 11.2 points as a junior, 12.5 points as a senior. O'Brien graduated from Wayne State with a Bachelor of Science in Recreation Administration in 1985. She joined her former WSU Head Coach Kim Mayden as an assistant women's basketball coach at the University of Northern Iowa in 1985, where the latter had gone after the 1983-84 season. In 1987 O'Brien received a Masters of Arts in Physical Education, with emphasis in teaching and coaching. O'Brien served as a college head women's basketball coach for the 1988-89 season at Wayne State's "sister" school, Wayne State College of Nebraska. O'Brien then began a career as a tennis, teaching and fitness professional instructor in South Dakota. In early 1991 she moved to Des Moines, Iowa, to work as a fitness instructor for Seven Flags Fitness and Racquet Club. Late that same year she changed careers, becoming a deputy sheriff with Polk County, a position she still currently holds. O'Brien is single, and she resides in Des Moines, Iowa.
