RICHMOND, Ky. - Buoyed by a two-game winning streak, coach Larry Joe Inman's Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team will close out the road portion of its regular season this week with contests at Murray State Thursday night (5:30 p.m. CST) and at UT Martin Saturday afternoon (4:00 p.m. CST).

EKU, 11-12 overall and 8-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference, ran its winning streak to two games Saturday afternoon with a 74-61 victory over Tennessee State to move into a fourth-place tie with UT Martin.

"This was a very good team win," said Inman. "All conference wins are big ones, especially down the stretch when everybody is trying to make the field or quite possibly host a first round game in the OVC Tournament.

"I thought we looked good and were very patient on offense. I was also very pleased again with our defense as we caused 23 turnovers. Tonight, we had a balanced attack and got contributions from several people. And I thought Zoey had a great game off the bench for us, as she hit some big shots."

Highlighting the win was senior guard Marla Gearhart reaching the 1,000-point plateau with her 10^th point of the game in the second half. Play was stopped at the next dead ball situation and a ceremonial basketball was given to her as the estimated 900 in attendance gave her a standing ovation. She now has 1,004 points in her Lady Colonel career.

"What can you say about Marla. She is not only a terrific basketball player, but a tremendous young lady as well," said Inman. "This milestone is well-deserved because no one works harder than Marla. She is a winner, both as a player and as a person."

Artist tied her career high in leading EKU with 18 points, while Gearhart and sophomore guard Mikki Bond each had 14 points and freshman forward Teresa McNair added 10 points against the Tigers.