RICHMOND, Ky. - Coach Joni Stephens' Eastern Kentucky University women's golf team heads south this week for the Northern Illinois University Snowbird Intercollegiate Golf Tournament to be held Thursday and Friday at the Pebblecreek Golf and Country Club of Tampa, FL.

A jam-packed field of 22 teams will be competing for the championship of the 14^th annual NIU tourney on the challenging, par-72, 5,940-yard course.

This tournament is part of the Rolex Collegiate Golf Tour, which includes the top 75 women's tournaments across the country each year as sponsored by the College Golf Foundation.

"We're excited about going south to play in a tournament of this size. We'll be playing against some talented teams, but we've had some good weather and we believe we're prepared to compete," said Stephens.

Other schools participating include Arkansas State, Bellarmine, Bradley, Daytona Beach CC, Eastern Michigan, Elon, Evansville, Florida Southern, Gardner-Webb, Illinois, Illinois Wesleyan, Iowa State, John A. Logan, Longwood, Maryland, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Notre Dame, Sam Houston State, Southern Illinois and EKU.

Eastern is coming into the tournament off a fourth place finish in the 15-team Elon College Invitational last weekend in Burlington, NC.

Junior Jackie Biro led Eastern with back-to-back rounds of 77 which gave her a score of 154 for the 36 holes, putting her in a tie for third place, three strokes off the tourney's top score.

Other Eastern golfers and their scores were: junior Krissie Kirby, 164; junior Colleen Yaeger, 165; senior Michelle Biro, 169; and freshman Leslie Fossitt, 171.

The Colonel squad representing EKU in the NIU Snowbird Tournament this week are both Michelle and Jackie Biro, Yaeger, junior Samantha Moses and sophomore Kelli Wilson.