RICHMOND, Ky. - Coach Larry Joe Inman's Eastern Kentucky University Lady Colonel basketball team faces one of its toughest road trips of the year this week when Eastern visits Middle Tennessee Thursday night and Ohio Valley Conference-leading Tennessee Tech Saturday evening. Both games begin at 5:45 p.m. CST.

Eastern will come into this week's action with a 9-10 overall mark and 6-4 record in the OVC, good enough for a tie for second place in the league standings with Murray State. MTSU is in a four-way tie for fourth place, just one game back at 5-5. Saturday's opponent, Tennessee Tech, stands 10-0 in conference action.

"This is a very tough two-game stretch. Middle Tennessee usually plays great at home and Tech is undefeated. We'll have to be at the top of our game to do well down there," Inman said of his team that is playing well, despite losing two starters early in the year to knee injuries.

"Our team has shown that it won't back down. They're going to scrap and claw every second to do their best," he added.

EKU went on the road last week, losing a double-overtime thriller to Eastern Illinois, 102-95, last Thursday, before falling Saturday to Southeast Missouri, 87-66.

Senior guard Marla Gearhart continued her stellar play for the Lady Colonels, notching a career-high 37 points against EIU and coming back Saturday to score 30 at Southeast Missouri. She has raised her team and conference-leading scoring average to 20.7.

Junior center Candice Finley, who scored 22 points against Eastern Illinois, is averaging 12.9 points, while freshman forward Teresa McNair adds 10.2 points per contest. Finley leads Eastern Kentucky in rebounding with her 6.0 per game mark.

Eastern returns to McBrayer Arena for a 6:00 p.m. contest Feb. 10 with Austin Peay. Tickets for EKU's remaining home games may be purchased by visiting the EKU Athletic Ticket Office in Room 126 of Alumni Coliseum from 8 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. weekdays or by phoning the ticket office at (606) 622-2122 or 1-800-262-7493, inside Kentucky.