RICHMOND, Ky. - An appearance in the Holiday Inn Beach Blast at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington this weekend closes the non-conference portion of the Eastern Kentucky University Lady Colonels' 1999-2000 basketball schedule.

EKU, 3-5 overall, will face host UNC-Wilmington, 3-4, at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the opening round of the tourney. Saint Louis faces North Carolina A & T at 6:30 p.m.

The Lady Colonels fought hard this past Saturday against a talented Xavier (Ohio) team but could not hold off the taller Musketeers in losing to XU, 94-83.

"I couldn't ask for a better effort than what we had against Xavier," said EKU head coach Larry Joe Inman. "We played our hearts out. We just got down too far."

Playing without two starters - junior forwards Charlotte Sizemore and Larrya Wall - who were lost for the season earlier in the week with knee injuries that will require surgery, Eastern saw Xavier (7-1) shoot 65.4 percent in the first half in running out to a 12-point margin at the break, 47-35.

The Musketeers expanded the lead to as much as a 25-point margin at 76-51 with 8:56 remaining, before the Lady Colonels, led by senior guard Marla Gearhart, cut the margin to 86-78 with 1:22 remaining.

That, however, was as close as EKU came the rest of the way as the Lady Colonels lost their fifth game in eight decisions.

Gearhart led Eastern with a career high 28 points. Others in twin digits for Eastern were sophomore guard Mikki Bond, who scored 17 points off the bench, freshman forward Teresa McNair with 13 and junior center Candice Finley with 12.

On the season, Eastern lists three healthy players in twin-figure scoring, led by Gearhart at 16.4. Finley is averaging 13.8, while McNair is scoring 10.4 points per game.

Substitute forward Susan Hatcher leads Eastern in field goal percentage (.491, 27-55). Sophomore guard Zoey Artist is 4-4 on the free throw line for the year, while McNair has hit 20-23 charity tosses this season.

Finley leads the team in rebounding with her 5.1 per game average, while Bond is close behind at 4.9 boards per contest.

Following the two-game set in the Holiday Inn Beach Blast tournament, Eastern's next action comes Jan. 6 when the Lady Colonels host Ohio Valley Conference foe, Middle Tennessee, at 6:00 p.m. in McBrayer Arena.