Towson Center

More than 200 girls and their American Girl dolls hit the runway at Towson Town Center on Saturday, Jan. 28. The walk was short and the line was long, but there were smiles all around. "I got to tell the guy what I liked," said Savannah Shafer, 7, of Lutherville, with her look-alike American Girl doll after walking the runway. "I wasn't nervous," she said, smiling. "I like playing with my American Girl online. " All of the girls participating had a chance of being selected for the American Girl Fashion Show, to be held March 24 and 25 at the Hippodrome Theater.

Kaya Kelly knew she wasn't only playing for her Institute of Notre Dame teammates Friday night against Mercy. She was also playing for generations of former players in the Towson Center stands who took part in a rivalry that is so revered it is simply known as "The Game. " Despite those circumstances, Kelly stayed focused sank a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to seal the Penguins' 33-32 victory in the 46th edition of the matchup before an estimated and sometimes deafening crowd of 4,000.

Sheree Ledbetter scored with four-tenths of a second remaining to give Towson a 77-75 win over William & Mary on Thursday at the Towson Center. The Tigers (11-4, 2-2 Colonial Athletic Association) ended a two-game losing streak with their fourth win this season in the final 10 seconds of play. "I'm proud of the way we responded," said coach Joe Mathews. "You can't simulate [late game situations] in practice. This league is full of close games, and our team is really confident that if we have the ball at the end of the game we can find a way to win. " The last-second basket came after the Tribe (8-7, 1-3 CAA)

One day, not long from now, this season will seem like nothing more than a foggy unpleasant memory to the Towson basketball team. With a highly touted recruiting class on the way and a state-of-the-art arena in the pipeline this program's better days surely lie ahead. For now, however, the nightmare that is the 2011-12 season continues to fester, and the latest example was Wednesday's 66-49 loss to unheralded William & Mary before a small gathering at the Towson Center. The Tigers (0-17, 0-5 Colonial Athletic Association)

Towson took another step closer to a record it doesn't want to own. The Tigers lost their 33rd consecutive game Monday night, fading in the final minutes as Northeastern pulled away for a 57-48 victory in a Colonial Athletic Association match-up at the Towson Center. Towson now is one loss away from tying the NCAA record for consecutive defeats by a Division I team. Sacramento State holds that mark (34), set from 1997-99. Towson (0-14, 0-2) hasn't won since edging La Salle in overtime, 93-90, on Dec. 29, 2010.

Sophomore forward Luke Apfeld came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points in only 22 minutes as Vermont (6-7) took an early lead and didn't look back in a 65-49 nonconference win over Towson on Friday night at Towson Center. The loss dropped Towson to 0-12 and was the Tigers' 31st in a row. The record for consecutive losses by a Division I team is 34, by Sacramento State. The overall record is 51 straight by New Jersey Institute of Technology as it transitioned from Division II to Division I. Apfeld made all 11 of his shots from the field, including his only 3-point field goal attempt.

On Monday, 19-year-old Rodney Vest Pridget stopped by the Northeast Baltimore group home where he once lived, The Sun's Alison Knezevich reports today . He watched TV with old friends and told them he was heading to the Towson Town Center mall. Hours later, Pridget was found dead of gunshot wounds on a sidewalk outside a service entrance to Nordstrom as crowds of people inside shopped for Christmas presents. People who knew Pridget struggled to understand what had happened to him. Baltimore County Police released few details about the shooting beyond the victim's name, emphasizing that the mall is safe and they do not believe that Pridget's death was a case of random violence.

As shoppers made last-minute stops before Christmas at the Towson Town Center Monday night, a body lay under a sheet outside Nordstrom. A man was fatally shot about 6:22 p.m. on a parking lot sidewalk outside a service entrance to the department store, Baltimore County police said. Police said Monday night they had no suspects, and did not release the identity of the victim, described only as a black man. With six days until Christmas, shoppers appeared unaware of the incident.

Scrolling or flashing electronic signs on the Towson City Center would have to be 55 feet or less from the ground under legislation approved Monday by the Baltimore County Council. The measure revised a bill the council passed in October, which allows electronic signs of up to 300 square feet on the building. Fifth District Councilman David Marks, a Perry Hall Republican, sponsored both bills. He offered the height limit after working with the Greater Towson Council of Community Associations, which had complained that the October legislation would allow flashing signs that could be seen far as far away as Cockeysville and the Loch Raven Reservoir – and that county council members hadn't listened to the community's concerns.

President Barack Obama and the First Family will attend Towson University's men's basketball game against Oregon State Saturday afternoon at the Towson Center, the school announced today. A capacity crowd is expected for the game, scheduled for 2 p.m. tip-off. To accommodate expected delays entering the Towson Center, the ticket office, will call windows and gates will open at noon. All fans must be in the arena by 1:45 p.m., according to the school. A huge basketball fan who still plays the game, Obama gets to as many games as he can. He and his wife attended the season-opening Carrier Classic game between North Carolina and Michigan State on the USS Carl Vinson.