RICHMOND, Ky. - Coach Larry Joe Inman's Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team will compete Dec. 28-29 in the Seelbach Hilton Tournament hosted by the University of Louisville in Freedom Hall.

EKU, 4-3 overall, is coming in off the strength of three straight victories - 83-71 over Murray State, 74-68 winner against Coastal Carolina and 83-82 over Wofford in overtime.

The last two wins came on the road last weekend and give Inman and his staff encouragement as to how the Lady Colonels might play later in the season with the game on the line.

"These last two games went down to the wire and winning both in dramatic fashion should give our kids a lot of confidence," Inman said. "These type situations are good for your mental state, because when you go through them again, you have already learned what it takes to win and how to pull off the victory down the stretch.

"We didn't shoot particularly well in either game but a lot of that had to do with our travel schedule and the availability of the floor for shooting practice. I was really pleased with how our team seemed to take it to another level at crunch time and dig a little deeper in order to win those games," he added.

Junior guard Marla Gearhart and sophomore forward Charlotte Sizemore have taken turns leading the Colonels in scoring through the first seven games as Sizemore has four game-high scoring attempts, while Gearhart has paced the team in three contests.

Gearhart leads the team in scoring on the season with her 15.9 per game mark, while Sizemore is scoring 15.3 points per contest. Jennifer King, who contributed a game-high 15 points in the Wofford contest, is approaching the double-digit scoring column with her 9.7 points per game average. King also tops the team in rebounds with her 8.0 mark.

In the Seelbach Hilton Tournament, Eastern plays the host U of L Lady Cards at 7:30 p.m. in the first round of the tourney, following the opening game which pits Kent against Nebraska.

"This is quite an honor to just get invited to such a prestigious tournament," Inman said. "This will give us a great opportunity to play against the nation's best, as all three of these teams were in post-season action last year.

"We're going up there and looking at this as a great learning experience. Playing against this kind of tough competition can only make us a better team down the road," he added.

Eastern returns to Ohio Valley Conference action Jan. 2 and Jan. 4 with road games at Southeast Missouri and Eastern Illinois, respectively. EKU stands 1-1 in conference play.