FREDERICK, Md.--The Hood College women's basketball team (5-14, 3-9 Commonwealth) put the skids on an eight-game losing skid with a come-from-behind 59-53 victory over Commonwealth Conference rival Arcadia University (9-10, 2-10 Commonwealth) Saturday afternoon at BB&T Arena.

Hood rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit and set a school record in blocked shots en route to their first victory since Dec. 29. Hood earned a split in the season series with the Knights, avenging a 19-point defeat at Arcadia on Jan. 5.

The first half featured nine lead changes and four ties and the two teams went into the locker room deadlocked at 24-24. Dyanna Prater scored the final four points of the half to draw the Blazers even.

Hood regained the lead briefly at the start of the second half on a jumper by Rachel Kessler but missed its next seven attempts from the floor. The Knights would go on to build a 44-33 lead over the Blazers with a little less than eight minutes to play in regulation. The Blazers got the margin back within single digits and began to make their move with 4:14 remaining when Emily Maerz burried a three off an assist by Verkia Smith to cut the deficit to four, 47-43. Arcadia answered with a layup on their next possession, but that would be the last field goal the Knights would connect on until the final 18 seconds of the game. By that time, Hood strung together a 13-0 run to leapfrog the Knights and Hood found themselves up seven with 29 ticks left. Maerz knocked down another triple, Kessler swished a pair of baskets and Prater, Smith and Shakara Head went 8-for-8 from the foul line in the run. Smith would go on to sink three more free throws in the closing seconds to ice the victory.

Hood overcame a 25.3 percent shooting effort from the floor by putting up big numbers in two other areas - offensive rebounding and blocked shots. Hood hauled in 22 offensive boards and blocked a school record 14 shots on the day. The 14 blocks eclipsed the previous single-game record of 12 against Notre Dame (Md.) from the 2005 season. Hood also finished with a season-low nine turnovers, while forcing the Knights to commit 23 miscues.

Rachel Wiley tied the single-game school record with seven blocked shots and now shares the top spot with former Blazer Danielle Allen who notched seven blocks twice in her career.

Kessler registered the first double-double of her Blazer career with 12 points and 12 rebounds, both team-highs. Prater finished with 10 points and four assists while Head tallied nine points off the bench. Maerz had eight points, including the two clutch treys in the second half. Up to that point, Hood was just 1-of-25 from behind the three-point arc on the day.

Arcadia was led by Valerie DiMuro who tallied 22 points and 10 rebounds while Dominique Hassinger played all 40 minutes and chipped in eight points and 10 rebounds in defeat.

Hood will hit the road Wednesday for a 6 p.m. Commonwealth matchup at Lebanon Valley College.