Louisiana State will be looking to establish its best-ever SEC start on Sunday when it visits Starkville to take on Mississippi State (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today; No. 12 AP).

The fourth-ranked Lady Tigers (19-1, 7-1 SEC) are coming off a 69-66 road win over South Carolina on Thursday, giving them a 7-1 league mark to equal the previous best start in school history, established by the 1999-2000 team.

Freshman sensation Seimone Augustus scored 26 points against the Gamecocks, continuing to keep the Lady Tigers among the conference's elite. LSU trails first-place Tennessee (8-0) by one game in the SEC.

"Seimone came into a team that was very experienced,'' LSU coach Sue Gunter said. "It's been a nice match. It's given her the time to find her comfort zone.''

The Lady Bulldogs (16-5, 5-3) are coming off Thursday's 76-71 loss to Georgia, but pose a significant threat to the Lady Tigers, according to Gunter.

"Mississippi State has just an outstanding team,'' Gunter said. "They have two great players and a nice complement of other players. Tan White and LaToya Thomas are about as good as it gets. What we have to do now is just settle in and stay focused on what we have to do.''

Thomas leads the Bulldogs in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 24.3 points and 8.2 boards a contest, while White adds 18.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

LSU holds a commanding 21-4 lead in the all-time series, but each of the Bulldogs' wins have come at Starkville.

Mississippi State is currently riding an eight-game home winning streak -- three shy of the team record, established in 1999-2000.

That streak came to an end with a 64-58 loss to the Tigers on Jan. 30, 2000.