Dartmouth (7-4, 3-0 Ivy) got off to a noticeably slow start during the first half of the game, failing to play with its usual aggression. Hood said the inability to quickly build momentum has plauged the team throughout the season.
"The way we've been playing the past few games, we've been down early and have had to battle back," Hood said.
Co-captain Kerry Bracco '12 added that the performance may also be attributed to the start time of the game, which began at 3 p.m. on Friday.
"The first half we came out a little slow and sluggish," Bracco said. "When we have games on class days we have a bit of a hard time getting going, but second half, we had them on their heels it was very competitive, very high level."
Boston University opened the scoring 14:14 minutes into the game with a goal by sophomore Dana Centofanti on a loose ball in the circle. Senior Kate Murphy continued the scoring for Boston University at the beginning of the second half, giving the Terriers a 2-0 lead over the Big Green.
Boston University failed to hold its shutout for long, however, as Hood scored just four minutes after Murphy's goal. The tally, assisted by Lisa Masini '13 and Janine Leger '15, came off a penalty corner and marked Hood's 11th goal since regular play opened in September.
Hood continues to lead the Ivy League in goals this season. She has scored three more than Dartmouth rookie Ali Savage '15 and Yale University senior Erin Carter, who trail in second with eight goals each.
Although Dartmouth failed to score again in the matchup, the Big Green improved its overall play during the second half, Bracco said.
"I think that our second half, we played really well as a team," she said. "We had really good passing patterns. It was very physical so I think we did a really good job of keeping our cool, despite that."
Seven out of 10 shots by the Big Green occurred during the last 35 minutes of play, while all six of Dartmouth's penalty corners came in the second half.
Hood added that goalie Meagan Vakiener '12 played superbly in fending off an aggressive attack by the Terriers.
"Our goalie came up with some incredible saves and kept us in the game," Hood said.
Boston University outshot the Big Green, 21-10, and Bracco said the Terriers held a particularly tight defensive line.
"We didn't have too many chances because they were so good defensively," she said.
Hood acknowledged, however, that the Big Green has multiple chances to score off of penalty corners, which it failed to capitalize on.
"Offensively, we missed some opportunities," Hood said. "We didn't finish on shots off of penalty corners as much as we should have. If we had finished on those, I think we would have had a chance to tie it."
Dartmouth faces a quick turnaround, playing again on Monday afternoon against Providence College. Bracco said she expects Providence (3-9, 0-2 Big East) to be tough competition.
"I think they're going to be another team like [Boston University] really fast and strong-skilled players," Bracco said. "We were a little disappointed in the outcome yesterday but I think we're excited to have another opportunity to prove ourselves and show that we can compete with these teams."
Hood added that Dartmouth intends to stick to its already-established game plan, regardless of the level of competition.
"Our mentality this season is that we go into every game, and that's the most important game on our schedule," Hood said. "We're going to go into our game against Providence with that mentality."
