The LSU Lady Tigers (19-10, 10-6 SEC) won six straight games to end the regular season and will be the No. 6 seed, taking on No. 11 Auburn (16-13, 5-11) at 7:30 p.m. CST in the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga.

LSU beat Auburn in their only meeting of the regular season, squeaking out a 59-55 victory Jan. 31 in Auburn.

That meeting was back when LSU was scuffling along, though. After losing games to Texas A&M and Tennessee, the Lady Tigers started on a six-game winning streak that is the SEC’s longest going into the tournament.

A 13-team field will head to Duluth for this year’s tournament. Ole Miss (9-20, 2-14), which finished last in the SEC, self-imposed a postseason ban earlier this season and will not participate (click here for full SEC tournament bracket).

The tournament starts Wednesday when No. 12 Mississippi State (13-16, 5-11) takes on No. 13 Alabama (12-17, 2-14) at 5 p.m.

The tournament cranks up full swing with four games on Thursday.

No. 8 Arkansas takes on No. 9 Florida at 11 a.m. CST, followed by the Mississippi State-Alabama winner against No. 5 South Carolina at 1:30 p.m.

The night session begins with No. 7 Vanderbilt against No. 10 Missouri in the Tigers’ SEC tournament debut at 5 p.m., followed by LSU-Auburn.

The LSU-Auburn winner takes on No. 3 Georgia at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals. The Lady Tigers beat the Lady Bulldogs 62-54 in Baton Rouge on Feb. 10 to start their winning streak.

Regular season champion and No. 1-seeded Tennessee(23-6, 14-2) also has a bye, as does No. 2 Kentucky (25-4, 13-3), and Texas A&M (21-9, 11-5), which snagged the No. 4 seed in its first SEC tournament despite Sunday’s 67-52 loss to LSU.

Semifinals are set for Saturday with the championship game on Sunday. The tournament winner earns the SEC’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

LSU will host NCAA first- and second-round games at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, March 24 and 26. If LSU is in the tournament, which is now a virtual certainty, the Lady Tigers will play at home.

Boykin was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre, a condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own nervous system, on Feb. 20 and was hospitalized for several days.

Boykin said she isn’t allowed to travel, meaning she will miss LSU’s regular-season finale Sunday at Texas A&M and next week’s SEC tournament in Duluth, Ga. She said she does plan to be on hand when LSU hosts the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, March 24 and 26 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU improved to 18-10 and 9-6 in SEC play Thursday with a 76-42 rout of Alabama in the Lady Tigers’ regular-season home finale. If LSU earns an NCAA bid, however, it is guaranteed to play at home.

The win, LSU’s fifth straight, nudged the Lady Tigers’ RPI slightly, up from No. 41 to No. 40 according to WarrenNolan.com and RealTimeRPI.com.

Texas A&M (21-8) is still No. 11 in Friday’s RPI despite losing 82-72 Thursday at Tennessee, the Aggies’ third defeat in the last four games. So, an upset win for LSU would give the Lady Tigers another serious bump in the RPI after being No. 56 last week.

LSU lost 74-57 to A&M at the PMAC on Feb. 4, the Lady Tigers’ most lopsided defeat of the entire season. LSU was only down five with four minutes to go before the Aggies closed on a 13-1 run.

LSU (16-9, 7-7 SEC) could use this victory to make a nice push into the mix for seventh place in the standings against Arkansas (17-10, 8-6), and firmly onto the NIT bubble.

The Razorbacks, who sit at No. 77 in the RPI, are trying to stay on the edge of the NCAA tournament bubble. Yet, they’ve struggled mightily away from Bud Walton Arena this season, going 1-7 in true road games.

The Set-Up

LSU is coming off a triple-overtime victory against Alabama on Saturday, with the players getting a day off Sunday and a light workout Monday with scout work. Charles Carmouche and Johnny O’Bryant each saw 50-plus minutes of action, while Anthony Hickey logged 42 for the Tigers.

Arkansas loves to push the pace and traps aggressively, which makes it interesting to see how LSU responds. Arkansas leads the SEC by forcing turnovers on 25.2 percent of its defensive possessions, and is No. 3 in the conference for defensive efficiency. On the perimeter, sophomore guard B.J. Young is averaging 15.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. UA leans on his presence late in games, with the St. Louis native making critical shots in victories against Georgia, Missouri and Auburn at Bud Walton Arena. Inside, Marshawn Powell is post 14.8 points per game and grabbing 5.2 rebounds, looking fully recovered from a knee-injury that sidelined him last season.

The Background

Under the new scheduling format, this is the lone meeting between the Tigers and Razorbacks this season. Last season, LSU won the rubber match in the first round of the SEC tournament with a 70-54 victory in New Orleans.

This will be the first time since UA joined the league in 1992 that the teams will not play twice. The Razorbacks lead the series 31-24 overall.

The Keys

Young vs. Hickey: LSU point guard Anthony Hickey still leads the SEC with 3.3 steals per game. B.J. Young averages 3.3 turnovers per game for Arkansas. Considering 28.2 possessions flow through the Arkansas guard, his ability to control the flow against the disruptive and instinctive Hickey will encapsulate which team is able to handle the pressure applied by their foe.

Powell’s fouls: The Hogs forward averages 3.54 fouls per game, fouling out four times this season. It’s been a particularly acute issue the past three weeks, where he’s fouled out once and amassed four fouls three times. Facing Johnny O’Bryant, who enters with a league-leading 12 double-doubles, looms as a risk for Powell and UA’s interior game. Sophomore forward Hunter Mickelson sees 17.7 minutes per game and averages 4.9 points, but that’s about it off the bench. In the starting line-up, junior Coty Clarke averages 7.3 points for UA. But there’s little doubt having Powell on the floor will alleviate scoring pressure on Young. If he’s on the bench, O’Bryant could run amok for LSU.

The 3-Ball: Arkansas might be able to force turnovers, but they struggle defending the 3-point arc, allowing SEC foes to knock 35.7 percent of their attempts per game. Over the past three games, LSU is shooting 43.3 percent behind the arc, or 26 of 60, and getting solid contributions from Charles Carmouche in that spot. The senior from New Orleans is 9 of 15 over that span and is averaging 13.7 points, too.

The Big Stat

26.5: That’s the difference in scoring margin for Arkansas on home versus on the road. So far, Arkansas is losing by 13.5 points away from Fayetteville, and whether the Hogs admit it, they’ve faced issues overcoming a mental block on finding success in opposing gyms. If that holds tonight, LSU might not have to worry about playing three overtimes tonight.

The Prediction

LSU 76, Arkansas 74

A 5-foot-9 guard from Memphis, Tenn., Ballard scored 19 points Sunday in LSU’s big 63-41 win at Mississippi State. She also had seven rebounds and four steals.

Ballard is second in the SEC in points (12.6 points per game), rebounding (6.4 rpg) and field goal percentage (42.2). She also leads the conference with 3.1 steals per game.

With a 15-10 overall record and 6-6 mark in SEC play, LSU continues to hang in on the No. 12 seed line in ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme’s latest NCAA women’s tournament projection.

LSU will host NCAA first- and second-round games Sunday, March 24 and Tuesday, March 26. If a team receives an NCAA tournament bid and is serving as a first- and second-round host it is guaranteed to play on its home court.

Creme projects LSU to play No. 5-seeded Nebraska (19-6) while he also has No. 4 Dayton (21-1 out of the Atlantic 10) and No. 13 Chattanooga (23-3) squaring off.