DENVER (AP) Prosecutors have taken the Kobe Bryant case to the Colorado Supreme Court, saying the judge should not have granted a hearing on the sexual history of the woman accusing the NBA star of rape.

At the very least, defense attorneys should be limited in what they can ask the 19-year-old alleged victim, prosecutors said in an appeal filed late Tuesday.

District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said if the hearing is allowed to continue as scheduled March 24-25, the woman will suffer irreparable harm by being forced to testify about private matters protected under the state's rape-shield law. The law generally bars using the sexual history of alleged victims in court.

The high court could issue a decision as early as Thursday, prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said.

Bryant faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted of felony sexual assault. The Los Angeles Lakers star has said he and the woman had consensual sex last June at the Vail-area hotel where she worked.

The woman is scheduled to testify behind closed doors about her sexual activities from the summer of 2002 to August 2003, Hurlbert said.

Defense attorneys say the information is important because it would show a ``plan'' to have sex with Bryant, would affect the credibility of the woman and other witnesses, and could show the woman's injuries might have been caused by another sexual partner.

The prosecution says the information is irrelevant, but state District Judge Terry Ruckriegle denied prosecutors' requests to halt the hearing and bar detailed questioning.

Hurlbert said defense questioning should be limited to the three days surrounding the alleged assault and to the source of semen found in the underwear she wore to a hospital examination the following day. Authorities have said the semen was not Bryant's.