EAGLE, Colo. – Since the last time she met Kobe Bryant [who’s all but going to the N.Y. Knicks after this season judging by recent reports], Kate Faber has become a redhead with a tan and a big ass. Faber was showing off all three yesterday in Eagle, Colorado as she took the witness stand gainst Bryant for the first time since accusing him of rape last summer.

The 19-year-old Faber underwent nearly four grueling hours of questioning from Bryant’s defense team about her past sexual relationships – but never broke.

The accuser, who had blond hair when she was allegedly attacked, has gained weight since accusing the L.A. Laker guard of bending her over a chair and raping her after she voluntarily went to his Eagle, Colo., hotel room on June 30.

Faber walked past pass a phalanx of reporters and entered Eagle County District Judge W. Terry Ruckriegle’s courtroom at about 8:30 a.m., accompanied by her attorney.

She left the court for a short break two hours later, then return for two more hours of grilling.

The young woman’s father paced at the far end of a hallway while the accuser underwent questioning.

Bryant, 25, has admitted having sex, but said the encounter was consensual.

Dressed in tan slacks, a black blazer and black high-heel shoes, faber appeared ready to face whatever the defense planned to dish out. She stared straight ahead and held her head high as she moved through the courthouse.

“I think she looked composed and stoic when she left the court,” said Craig Silverman, a former Denver prosecutor and Kobe case pundit.

Bryant also appeared stone-faced whenever he exited the courtroom. Bryant’s defense team convinced Ruckriegle to hold the closed hearing to determine if the woman’s sexual history is relevant to their case.

Colorado’s rape shield law protects people who report sexual crimes from having their sexual history examined during a trial. But those rules don’t hold up if the defense can show compelling reasons to explore an alleged victim’s past.

Bryant’s defense convinced the court that the woman’s past was very relevant. They contend injuries sustained to her private parts during the alleged rape could have come from an affair with a different man.

The defense has alleged in court papers that the woman had sex with several men near the time of the alleged rape. They have also argued that the woman had sex with another man just 15 hours after the alleged assault.

The accuser’s attorney, John Clune, denied those accusations.

The accuser’s former college roommate, Amanda Ross, and a former co-worker at the Vail-area resort where the alleged rape occurred were also called to testify yesterday.

Lodge & Spa at Cordillera Bellmen Bobby Pietrack exchanged a hug with his mother before he entered the closed courtroom to face questioning. He could play a key role in the case, because he spotted the accuser that night and said she was visibly upset and disheveled after leaving Bryant’s room.

Bryant’s lawyers contend the injuries Faber suffered were from sex with someone other than Bryant. They were expected to ask her whether she had sex – either before or after the attack – with hotel bellman Pietrack and former boyfriend Matt Herr.

Pietrack and another young man also testified yesterday, as did two young women who know the alleged victim. When the hearing resumes today, the judge will weigh a request by Bryant’s lawyers to throw out his statements to cops and a T-shirt stained with the accuser’s blood.

Faber, a college student, reportedly has sought treatment for substance abuse at rehab centers in Arizona and Florida.

Her former boss at Lucille’s, a barbecue restaurant in Delray Beach, Fla., where she worked for a week as a hostess in March while living in a halfway house, said she never discussed the controversial case.

“She said she was in rehab trying to get her life straightened out,” manager Josh Henderson said. “She was a good worker, always on time, always smiling. She had a great personality.”