The really good news: she didn't panic, AND she's all right. Cool.
I really can't say whether or not she made a tactical mistake here, until she thinks about and answers this question: could she see both his hands?
Last time I was in a hairball against humans, I made the critical mistake of not watching their hands. "Whoops, where'd those claw hammers come from?" Not good. Fortunately the hammers made their appearance while the goblins were at some range (near 20 feet or so).
So my point here is that if she could see his hands, then "holding fire" on the OC may have actually been optimal. Outdoors, you can catch a backspray whiff and it sometimes doesn't work.
Like I say: she kept her head, she made that moron realize he did NOT have helpless prey on his hands, and she wasn't bluffing.
Good on her.
Oh ya: the other reason I survived that mess against four loonies with two hammers, is that I found them beating on some guy, *immediately* pushed 'em off, got the downed party out, and backed up covering his retreat. My entire time spent inside their effective range was between one and two seconds. Lesson: a quick, fast counter-attack before the assailant can "gain control" can actually make up for tactical mistakes on your part by beating them mentally when they're not yet beaten physically.