Hood College jumped ahead 18-3 and held on in overtime to defeat Lebanon Valley 60-58.
The Blazer defense turned in perhaps its best performance of the year against the Dutchmen, who are tied for first in the Commonwealth Conference. Hood's defense held Lebanon Valley without a field goal for the opening 8:12 of the contest. The Blazers limited the Dutchmen to just 24 percent from the floor, LVC's worst mark since the 2006-07 season, a span of 210 games. While the hosts found some success from 3-point range, Hood held the Dutchmen to only 8-of-44 on 2-point field goals.
Hood (5-11, 2-7), meanwhile, shot season bests of 47 percent from the field and 53 percent on 3-point field goals.
Verkia Smith (Waldorf, Md. / North Point) scored 10 of her career-high 23 points during the game-opening run, including a layup that put Hood ahead by 15 with 10:33 left in the first half.
Lebanon Valley (13-3, 7-2) began to chip away at the lead and after a jumper by Danni Medovich (Woodsboro, Md. / Walkersville) gave the Blazers a 27-21 lead with 1:17 remaining in the first half, the Dutchmen scored the final five points of the half.
Early in the second half, Bridget Rothert sank a three to tie the score at 29-29, but Medovich responded with a 3-point field goal of her own to reclaim the lead for Hood with 16:05 to play. The Blazers slowly built the lead and Smith nailed one from behind the arc to put Hood ahead by seven, 45-38, with eight minutes to go.
A 10-2 run by Lebanon Valley, however, gave the Dutchmen their first lead of the evening 48-47 with 3:16 left after a free throw by Caitlin Bach. Smith and Alyssa Cirucci traded pairs of free throws before Smith knocked down her fifth three of the night for a 52-50 lead with 1:35 remaining in regulation. A score by Bach with 24 seconds to go tied the game and sent it to overtime.
Brittney George's (Middletown, Md. / Middletown) layup and two free throws by Medovich put Hood ahead 56-52 with 3:08 left in the extra period. The Blazers still led by four, 59-55, after a foul shot by Rachel Wiley (Frederick, Md. / Tuscarora) with 57 seconds to play, but 16 seconds later Peyton Carper hit a 3-pointer to cut the Hood lead to one.
The two teams exchanged turnovers, resulting in the Blazers regaining possession with five seconds left. Allie Appleby (Bel Air, Md. / C. Milton Wright) hit 1-of-2 from the line for a two-point lead. Needing to push the ball quickly, an LVC pass was tipped by Wiley and stolen by Rachel Kessler (Middletown, Md. / Middletown) to seal the victory.
Smith was 8-of-12 from the floor and her 5-of-8 evening on 3-point field goals powered the Blazers to an 8-of-15 mark as a team from behind the arc. George netted 10 points and converted 5-of-7 field goals. Wiley was strong underneath with game-highs of 12 rebounds and three blocks.
Rothert notched 17 points in the losing effort, going 5-of-10 on 3-pointers, but missing all six of her attempts inside the arc. The Dutchmen stayed in the game with a 7-of-18 shooting night on threes (39 percent) and 21-of-26 from the free throw line (80 percent).
Hood's win was its first in school history over Lebanon Valley in eight tries.
The Blazers return to action when they take on Messiah at the BB&T Arena on January 25.