GRANTHAM, Pa.--Senior Emily Maerz became just the sixth Hood College women's basketball player to sink 100 three-point baskets, but the Blazers (4-12, 2-7 Commonwealth) came up on the short end of a 71-43 Commonwealth Conference decision to the No. 5 Messiah College Falcons (16-1, 10-0 Commonwealth).

Maerz buried her only triple of the game off an assist from Dyanna Prater at the 3:52 mark of the second half, marking the 100th three-pointer of her Blazer career. Shakara Head paced the Blazer offense with 15 points on 6-of-8 from the field and was one rebound shy of her third collegiate double-double with nine boards.

The opening half was a game of runs on both sides. Prater and Head connected on back-to-back layups to start the game but from there Messiah strung together 18 unanswered points. Hood countered with a 9-0 run to pull to within 18-13 with 8:20 to play in the opening half. The Falcons would then proceed to rip off 16 more points in a row and led 36-15 at halftime.

Hood nearly doubled its scoring output in the second half, but the Falcon offense continued to click and Messiah maintained its double-figure edge.

Briana Lee chipped in nine points off the bench, including two treys, and Rachel Wiley added five points and six rebounds. Sarah Marcello connected on a pair of free throws and dished two assists for Hood. Prater finished with nine points and now sits 19 points shy of reaching the 1,000-point milestone for her career.

Dori Gyori finished with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds for Messiah, both game-highs. Messiah shot 44.8 percent from the floor and netted 33 points off 30 Blazer miscues.

Hood begins a three-game homestand Monday at BB&T Arena when it hosts Alvernia University in a Commonwealth matchup at 6 p.m.