Geez, guys, Sam just had a crazy, highly charged, emotional and violent confrontation with her sister. I am not sure we need to pick at her technique. She did well. She defended herself and received thankfully little injury, and didn't severly hurt her sister either. And she is still a relative newcomer to the martial arts on top of this. Truly amazing.
This was an unpredictable situation that had the potential to become extremely explosive in a hurry, and there were probably precious few fractions of a second in which she was able to even consider what kind of technique was appropriate. She acted on instinct based on her training, and survived the encounter and didn't deliver any overkill in the process. She deserves a huge pat on the back and congratulations, and probably needs a thorough round of hugs to boot.
It is always possible to second-guess what happened, but I'm not sure it is always necessary or appropriate. These situations get out of control in the blink of an eye and it is often not possible to even think of these other things until it is too late. Sometimes simple reaction is all that there is.
Sam, you did amazingly well and showed a tremendous level of clear-headedness. Well done, and you've got a huge hug from me, if it makes you feel any better about the situation.
Michael