BATON ROUGE — LSU women's basketball tips off play in March Madness against Rice in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

A week ago, the Owls (19-14) were not even projected to make the field as it finished up regular season play as the No. 10 seed in American Athletic Conference at 9-9 in league play. But Rice got hot at the right time, winning four games in the conference tournament to win the AAC tournament title.

Rice defeated East Carolina 61-41 to earn the automatic bid Wednesday afternoon.

Kim Mulkey has guided LSU to its third straight NCAA Tournament berth, all as an at-large bid and this is the second straight postseason that the Tigers are a No. 3 seed. The Tigers won it all last season, knocking off Caitlin Clark and Iowa 102-85 in the NCAA championship game.

Here's what you need to know about the Round of 64 matchup for LSU in March Madness:

Kim Mulkey, LSU women's basketball enter March Madness playing their best basketball

The Tigers (28-5), led by stars Angel Reese and Flau'jae Johnson, closed the regular season and conference tournament season 10-1 with the lone loss to No. 1 South Carolina in the SEC Tournament championship game in Greenville, South Carolina.

And LSU, which was short-handed with injuries to junior guard Last-Tear Poa and a light bench, played the Gamecocks nip and tuck for the second time this season, ultimately falling in the title game 79-72.

Reese, the SEC Player of the Year, has recorded 12 straight double-doubles to lead LSU down the stretch.

Rice Owls won American Athletic Conference behind defense

During Rice's run to the ACC championship, it played some potent offenses in the tourney's top seed North Texas and East Carolina.

The Owls relied on their defense as it held all four of their opponents in the AAC Tournament below 60 points. Against North Texas, Rice trailed with 2:13 remaining and forced a pair of turnovers that allowed it to reclaim the lead it had for much of the game.

With a spot in the NCAA Tournament on the line, Rice limited East Carolina to just 41 points in the conference championship game.

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Poa suffered a concussion late in the SEC Tournament semifinal game versus Ole Miss and sat out the title game against South Carolina.

Mulkey told reporters Sunday that Poa "is better every day. She told she got on the treadmill maybe today. Going to try to do some individual workouts, so that's a great sign. Her parents are still here, I think they leave tomorrow night.

"This week we had three days off and have been practicing since Thursday. We'll get in the film room tomorrow."

While Poa is progressing, Mulkey did not divulge whether or not the guard would be healthy enough to play in the opening round.

LSU women's basketball score prediction vs Rice

LSU 89, Rice 55: While the Owls have played solid defense of late, they haven't been terribly efficient offensively. LSU's offense should overwhelm Rice while its defense should feast at all levels.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU vs Rice score prediction: March Madness, NCAA women's pick