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RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team will look to make a statement in the Ohio Valley Conference East Division when the Lady Colonels welcome Belmont and Tennessee State to McBrayer Arena this weekend.

EKU (10-7, 4-2 OVC) will be seeking redemption versus first-place Belmont (12-8, 7-1 OVC) on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The Lady Colonels were defeated by the Bruins, 65-49, on Monday in Nashville. Saturday’s matchup will be the first time in program history the Lady Colonels have played the same opponent in consecutive games.

Eastern will then face Tennessee State (7-10, 3-3 OVC) on Monday at 7:00 p.m.

EKU, which enters the weekend tied for second place with Tennessee Tech (10-9, 4-2 OVC), is 8-1 at McBrayer Arena this season, including a 63-62 win over OVC West leader Eastern Illinois on Jan. 7.

The Lady Colonels split a pair of road games last weekend, defeating Jacksonville State, 69-51, on Saturday before falling at Belmont on Monday. Senior Alex Jones, who started her 100th career game in the win over JSU, recorded a double-double in both of those games. The native of Elizabethtown, Ky. is now all alone in second place on EKU’s career double-doubles list (30).

In the loss at Belmont, senior Jade Barber, the only player in the OVC averaging a double-double this season (13.4 ppg, 10.6 rpg) led EKU with 14 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Miranda Maples came off the bench to score a career-high eight points and grab three boards. Eastern, however, shot 32 percent (20-of-63) from the field in the loss, its second-lowest mark of the season.

Belmont was led by Alyssa Visbeen’s 16 points and Jordan Coleman’s double-double (11 points, 14 rebounds) on Monday. Coleman is second only to Barber in the OVC in rebounding at 10.2 rebounds-per-game.

Tennessee State played a reverse EKU schedule last weekend and fared just as well, losing at Belmont, 66-54, on Saturday before defeating JSU, 76-67, on Wednesday. Kesi Hess paces the Lady Tigers offense at 11.3 points-per-game while Simone Hopes contributes with 9.9 points-per-game and 6.7 rebounds-per-game.

EKU is 35-15 all-time against TSU, and the Lady Colonels have defeated the Lady Tigers four consecutive times, including a 70-55 win in the first round of last year’s OVC Tournament.

Following this set of home games, Eastern hits the road again with games at OVC West opponents Southeast Missouri on Feb. 2 and UT Martin on Feb. 4.