LORETTO - Over the course of the past few seasons, the St. Francis women's basketball team has done a respectable job protecting its home floor.
Last season, the Red Flash were 14-1 at DeGol Arena.
This season, things already aren't looking as good.
A 28-percent shooting effort was the main culprit Saturday afternoon, as St. Francis fell to visiting Towson, 59-53.
The Flash fell to 4-4 overall with the loss, but more importantly fell to 3-2 at home on the young season.
"I just don't think we were as focused as we should have been, could have been the entire game," St. Francis coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl said. "If we would have played the entire game like we played the last 8-10 minutes, we probably would have came out of here with a victory.
"You've got to first protect your home floor, and we didn't do that today."
St. Francis played a few strong minutes to open the game, but quickly unraveled offensively.
Fortunately, the Tigers (7-2) didn't fare any better, but still managed to build a 12-point lead at halftime.
"I'm just really happy to get out of here with a win," Towson coach Joe Mathews said. "I thought both teams played poorly for the most part.
"I didn't feel like at halftime we had enough separation. We did some things defensively to help it, but they missed some opportunities."
The Red Flash were a feeble 6-for-31 (19 percent) from the floor in the first half and just 14-for-40 (35 percent) in the second.
Many misses included open looks and easy layups.
"[We had] 20 offensive boards - we ended up being aggressive, but we've got to make layups," Robinson Fruchtl said. "We missed layups the entire game. We attacked. We had them, but I don't know if we were looking for a foul to be called or just our focus wasn't there. But you've got to make layups."
Despite having a sub-par offensive performance, St. Francis still managed to climb back into the game.
Alli Williams scored 17 of her 18 points in the second half. She also grabbed 11 second-half rebounds for a total of 17 and her fourth double-double of the season.
Kia Gibbs had a game-high 19 points, but no other Flash player had more than four.
"We're pretty good when we communicate, when we play with heart and passion, when we're focused and when everybody's doing that," Robinson Fruchtl said. "But if there's one person at any given time not doing that, it affects all five on the floor.
"I was happy that we played down the stretch the way we did and kept with it, but I think we let this slip away with some lack of focus from the beginning."
The loss not only ended the Red Flash's four-game winning streak, but it sends them into a seven-game stretch - including Northeast Conference games against Bryant and Central Connecticut State - where they will play away from Loretto.
After a week off for final exams, St. Francis begins its month-long road trip at St. Joseph's on Dec. 19.
TOWSON (7-2): Parnell 7-12 1-4 16, Fooks 3-7 1-4 7, Fields 2-7 1-3 5, McTiller 4-6 0-0 9, N. Williams 2-5 3-6 7, Webb 0-1 2-2 2, Alberson 0-0 0-0 0, Shearin 3-4 1-2 7, Ledbetter 1-6 4-4 6. Totals 22-48 13-25 59.
ST. FRANCIS (4-4): Gibbs 7-19 4-4 19, Smith 2-9 0-0 4, Hayward 0-5 0-0 0, Prescott 1-3 0-0 2, A. Williams 7-16 3-8 18, Carangelo 0-2 0-0 0, Thorn 1-4 2-2 4, Young 0-3 0-0 0, Keegan 2-5 0-0 4, Watts 0-3 2-2 2, Doogan 0-1 0-0 0, Phillips 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-71 11-16 53.
Halftime-Towson 29-21. 3-point goals-Towson 2-5 (McTiller 1-1, Parnell 1-2, Fields 0-1, Lebetter 0-1), St. Francis 2-11 (A. Williams 1-1, Gibbs 1-3, Carangelo 0-1, Young 0-1, Doogan 0-1, Thorn 0-2, Hayward 0-2). Fouled out-none. Rebounds-Towson 44 (N. Williams 12), St. Francis 43 (A. Williams 17). Assists-Towson 13 (Parnell 7), St. Francis 9 (Smith 2, Thorn 2). Total fouls-Towson 18, St. Francis 19. A-683
