2017–18 Southeastern Conference women's basketball season

The 2017–18 Southeastern Conference women's basketball season began with practices in October 2017, followed by the start of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November. Conference play started in late-December 2017 and concluded in February 2018, followed by the 2018 SEC women's basketball tournament at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

2017–18 SEC Women's Basketball Season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams14
WNBA Draft
Top draft pickA'ja Wilson (South Carolina)
Picked byLas Vegas Aces, 1st overall
Regular season
2018 SEC ChampionsMississippi State
Tournament
ChampionsSouth Carolina
  Runners-upMississippi State
2017–18 SEC women's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 4 Mississippi State16–0 1.00037–2  .949
No. 7 South Carolina †12–4 .75029–7  .806
No. 18 Georgia12–4 .75026–7  .788
No. 12 Tennessee11–5 .68825–8  .758
No. 17 Missouri11–5 .68824–8  .750
No. 14 Texas A&M11–5 .68826–10  .722
No. 24 LSU11–5 .68819–10  .655
Alabama7–9 .43820–14  .588
Kentucky6–10 .37515–17  .469
Auburn5–11 .31314–15  .483
Arkansas3–13 .18813–18  .419
Florida3–13 .18811–19  .367
Vanderbilt3–13 .1887–24  .226
Ole Miss1–15 .06312–19  .387
† 2018 SEC tournament winner
As of April 1, 2018
Rankings from AP poll

Pre-season

Pre-season team predictions
Media[1] Coaches[2]
1. South Carolina
2. Mississippi State
3. Missouri
4. Tennessee Texas A&M
5. Texas A&M Tennessee
6. Kentucky
7. LSU
8. Georgia
9. Alabama
10. Auburn Vanderbilt
11. Vanderbilt Auburn
12. Florida Ole Miss
13. Ole Miss Florida
14. Arkansas

Pre-season All-SEC teams
Media[1] Coaches[2]
A'ja Wilson South Carolina Wilson
Victoria Vivians Mississippi State Vivians
Morgan William Mississippi State William
Sophie Cunningham Missouri Cunningham
Mercedes Russell Tennessee Russell
Raigyne Louis LSU
Jaime Nared Tennessee
Khaalia Hillsman Texas A&M
  • Coaches select eight players
  • Players in bold are choices for SEC Player of the Year

Head coaches

Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season. Overall and SEC records are from time at current school.

Team Head coach Previous job Seasons at school Overall record SEC record NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Alabama Kristy Curry Texas Tech 5th 373–214 64–65 9 1 0
Arkansas Mike Neighbors Washington 1st 98–41 – 3 1 0
Auburn Terri Williams-Flournoy Georgetown 6th 231–180 30–52 4 0 0
Florida Cameron Newbauer Belmont 1st 79–50 – 2 0 0
Georgia Joni Taylor Georgia (ass't) 3rd 37–25 16–16 1 0 0
Kentucky Matthew Mitchell Memphis 11th 271–129 102–54 8 0 0
LSU Nikki Fargas UCLA 7th 185–109 48–46 7 0 0
Mississippi State Vic Schaefer Sam Houston State 6th 204–161 45–35 3 1 0
Missouri Robin Pingeton Illinois State 8th 458–257 36–40 4 0 0
Ole Miss Matt Insell Kentucky 5th 58–68 17–43 0 0 0
South Carolina Dawn Staley Temple 10th 393–160 97–45 12 2 1
Tennessee Holly Warlick Tennessee (ass't) 6th 128–46 60–20 5 0 0
Texas A&M Gary Blair Arkansas 15th 739–304 51–27 23 2 1
Vanderbilt Stephanie White Indiana 2nd 14–16 4–12 0 0 0

Weekly rankings
Main article: 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV=Received votes. NR=No rank/vote.
 PreWk
2		Wk
3		Wk
4		Wk
5		Wk
6		Wk
7		Wk
8		Wk
9		Wk
10		Wk
11		Wk
12		Wk
13		Wk
14		Wk
15		Wk
16		Wk
17		Wk
18		Final
Alabama AP NR RV RV NR
C NR
Arkansas AP NR
C NR
Auburn AP NR
C NR
Florida AP NR
C NR
Georgia AP NR NR RV RV NR NR NR NR NR RV RV 21 17 18 20 19 19
C RV RV NR NR NR NR RV NR RV 24 20 18 18 19 19 18
Kentucky AP RV 25 22 22 20 RV NR
C RV RV 22 23 RV NR
LSU AP RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR RV NR NR RV RV RV 24 24
C RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR RV RV RV
Mississippi State AP 7 7 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 2
C 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2
Missouri AP 16 23 23 19 17 16 16 16 15 12 11 11 15 15 13 11 14
C 16 19 18 17 16 16 16 16 13 12 11 15 15 13 9 13
Ole Miss AP NR
C NR
South Carolina AP 4 4 3 5 5 4 4 4 4 9 10 9 7 7 8 7 8
Coaches 2 2 6 6 5 5 5 5 8 10 7 6 8 8 6 8
Tennessee AP 14 13 12 12 11 7 7 7 7 6 6 10 12 11 11 15 12
Coaches 18 14 13 13 7 7 7 7 6 7 10 13 11 11 14 12
Texas A&M AP 20 19 19 18 21 19 19 22 19 17 16 15 14 14 17 17 15
C RV 25 21 22 22 20 21 19 16 17 15 12 14 18 18 16
Vanderbilt AP NR
C NR

Source:[3]

Regular season matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

  Alabama Arkansas Auburn Florida Georgia Kentucky LSU Mississippi State Missouri Ole Miss South Carolina Tennessee Texas A&M Vanderbilt
vs. Alabama –1–11–00–10–01–00–11–01–00–01–00–01–00–1
vs. Arkansas 1–1–0–11–01–01–00–01–01–00–11–01–00–01–0
vs. Auburn 0–11–0–0–11–01–01–10–00–00–01–02–02–00–0
vs. Florida 1–00–11–0–1–01–01–02–01–01–10–00–00–00–0
vs. Georgia 0–00–10–10–1–0–11–01–00–10–10–00–00–10–2
vs. Kentucky 0–10–10–10–11–0–1–00–01–00–01–01–01–01–0
vs. LSU 1–00–11–10–10–10–1–1–00–10–00–00–11–00–1
vs. Mississippi State 0–10–10–00–20–10–00–1–0–10–20–10–00–00–0
vs. Missouri 0–10–00–00–11–00–11–01–0–0–11–10–10–00–1
vs. Ole Miss 0–01–00–01–11–00–00–02–01–0–1–01–01–01–0
vs. South Carolina 0–10–10–10–10–10–20–01–01–10–1–2–00–10–1
vs. Tennessee 1–00–10–10–10–10–11–01–01–00–10–2–1–10–2
vs. Texas A&M 0–10–10–20–11–00–11–11–10–00–11–01–1–0–1
vs. Vanderbilt 1–00–11–01–02–00–11–01–01–00–11–02–01–0–
Total 7–93–135–113–1312–46–1011–516–011–51–1512–411–511–53–13

Attendance
Team Arena Capacity Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Game 6 Game 7 Game 8 Total Average % of Capacity
Game 9 Game 10 Game 11 Game 12 Game 13 Game 14 Game 15 Game 16
Alabama Coleman Coliseum 15,383 2,414 2,035 4,179 2,009 2,229 1,971 2,070 2,410 27,770 2,314 15%
1,370 2,323 2,117 2,643
Arkansas Bud Walton Arena 19,368 4,719 1,739 1,132 1,139 1,821 1,481 1,388 1,701 17,721 1,172 6%
1,288 1,313
Auburn Auburn Arena 9,121 1,489 1,879 2,769 2,589 1,585 1,749 1,788 1,980 21,295 2,130 23%
2,110 3,357
Florida O'Connell Center 10,133 1,509 1,143 2,989 1,009 1,512 1,008 1,054 1,008 20,886 1,492 15%
1,206 1,305 1,509 1,332 2,601 1,701
Georgia Stegeman Coliseum 10,523 3,292 2,194 2,115 2,084 3,390 4,290 6,942 2,137 41,901 3,223 31%
2,614 2,934 2,229 5,012 2,668
Kentucky Memorial Coliseum 10,000 4,313 4,256 4,710 4,276 4,561 4,071 5,871 4,753 62,992 5,249 52%
8,921 5,782 6,521 4,957
LSU Pete Maravich Assembly Center 13,215 2,353 1,665 2,011 1,746 2,020 2,525 1,765 4,333 18,418 2,302 17%
Mississippi State Humphrey Coliseum 10,575 6,811 4,584 5,321 5,138 5,010 5,445 4,953 8,535 74,093 6,174 58%
5,398 7,161 9,010 6,727
Missouri Mizzou Arena 15,061 3,351 4,251 3,068 3,345 3,470 3,234 4,630 3,253 38,473 3,847 26%
4,652 5,219
Ole Miss The Pavilion at Ole Miss 9,500 8,302 7,042 817 1,112 6,297 873 8,229 1,155 42,257 3,521 37%
1,018 1,323 931 5,158
South Carolina Colonial Life Arena 18,000 13,723 12,471 12,020 13,054 11,732 13,345 13,431 12,011 160,827 13,402 74%
14,763 12,844 13,433 18,000
Tennessee Thompson–Boling Arena 21,678 8,869 7,553 7,818 7,311 8,004 7,187 9,651 8,663 97,531 8,867 41%
10,023 13,436 9,016
Texas A&M Reed Arena 12,989 3,085 2,867 3,315 3,123 2,815 3,009 3,391 7,180 53,910 3,851 30%
3,886 4,316 3,662 5,053 4,702 3,506
Vanderbilt Memorial Gymnasium 14,316 2,866 5,367 2,495 2,292 2,330 2,153 27,067 2,707 19%
2,112 2,212 2,231 3,009

Postseason

SEC tournament
Main article: 2018 SEC women's basketball tournament
  • February 28–March 4 at the Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee. Teams were seeded by conference record, with ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by record against the regular season champion, if necessary.
2018 SEC women's basketball tournament seeds and results
Seed School Conf. Over. Tiebreaker First round
February 28		 Second round
March 1		 Quarterfinals
March 2		 Semifinals
March 3		 Championship
March 4
1 ‡†Mississippi State 16–0 32–1 Bye Bye vs. #9 Kentucky
W, 81–58		 vs. #5 TAMU
W, 70–55		 vs. #2 South Carolina
L, 51–62
2 †South Carolina 12–4 25–6 1–0 vs. UGA Bye Bye vs. #7 Tennessee
W, 73–62		 vs. #3 Georgia
W, 71–49		 vs. #1 Mississippi State
W, 62–51
3 †Georgia 12–4 25–6 0–1 vs. SC Bye Bye vs. #6 Missouri
W, 55–41		 vs. #2 South Carolina
L, 49–71
4 †LSU 11–5 19–9 1–0 vs. Missouri, 1–0 vs. UT, 1–1 vs. TAMU Bye Bye vs. #5 TAMU
L, 69–75
5 #Texas A&M 11–5 24–8 1–0 vs. Missouri, 1–1 vs. LSU, 1–1 vs. UT Bye vs. #13 Arkansas
W, 82–52		 vs. #4 LSU
W, 75–69		 vs. #1 Mississippi State
L, 55–70
6 #Missouri 11–5 24–7 1–0 vs. UT, 0–1 LSU, 0–1 vs. TAMU Bye vs. #14 Ole Miss
W, 59–50		 vs. #3 Georgia
L, 41–55
7 #Tennessee 11–5 24–7 1–1 vs. TAMU, 0–1 vs. LSU, 0–1 vs. Missouri Bye vs. #10 Auburn
W, 64–61		 vs. #2 South Carolina
L, 62–73
8 #Alabama 7–9 17–13 Bye vs. #9 Kentucky
L, 64–79
9 #Kentucky 6–10 15–17 Bye vs. #8 Alabama
W, 79–64		 vs. #1 Mississippi State
L, 58–81
10 #Auburn 5–11 14–15 Bye vs. #7 Tennessee
L, 61–64
11 Florida 3–13 11–19 1–0 vs. Vanderbilt, 1–0 vs. Arkansas vs. #14 Ole Miss
L, 42–48
12 Vanderbilt 3–13 7–24 0–1 vs. UF, 0–1 vs. Arkansas vs. #13 Arkansas
L, 76–88
13 Arkansas 3–13 13–18 0–1 vs. UF, 1–0 vs. Vanderbilt vs. #12 Vanderbilt
W, 88–76		 vs. #5 TAMU
L, 52–82
14 Ole Miss 1–15 12–19 vs. #11 Florida
W, 48–42		 vs. #6 Missouri
L, 50–59
‡ – SEC regular season champions, and tournament No. 1 seed.
† – Received a double-Bye in the conference tournament.
# – Received a single-Bye in the conference tournament.
Overall records include all games played in the tournament.

NCAA Division I Women's Basketball tournament
Main article: 2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
Seed Bracket School First round Second round Sweet 16 Elite 8 Final Four Championship
1 Kansas City Mississippi State vs. #16 Nicholls State
W, 95–50		 vs. #9 Oklahoma State
W, 71–56		 vs. #4 NC State
W, 71–57		 vs. #3 UCLA
W, 89–73		 vs. #1 Louisville
W, 73–63OT		 vs. #1 Notre Dame
L, 58–61
2 Albany South Carolina vs. #15 NC A&T
W, 63–52		 vs. #10 Virginia
W, 66–56		 vs. #11 Buffalo
W, 79–63		 vs. #1 Connecticut
L, 65–94
3 Lexington Tennessee vs. #14 Liberty
W, 100–60		 vs. #6 Oregon State
L, 59–66
4 Albany Georgia vs. #13 Mercer
W, 68–63		 vs. #5 Duke
L, 40–66
4 Spokane Texas A&M vs. #13 Drake
W, 89–76		 vs. #5 DePaul
W, 80–79		 vs. #1 Notre Dame
L, 84–90
5 Lexington Missouri vs. #12 Florida Gulf Coast
L, 70–80
6 Spokane LSU vs. #11 Central Michigan
L, 69–78
# Bids: 7 W-L (%): TOTAL: 12–6 (.667) 5–2 (.714) 3–2 (.600) 2–1 (.667) 1–1 (.500) 1–0 (1.000) 0–0 (–)

Women's National Invitation tournament
Main article: 2018 Women's National Invitation Tournament
School First round Second round Third round Quarterfinals
Alabama
(3–1)		 vs. Southern
W, 69–56		 vs. UCF
W, 80–61		 vs. Georgia Tech
W, 61–59		 vs. Virginia Tech
L, 67–74

WNBA draft
Main article: 2018 WNBA draft
Pick Player WNBA Team School
1 A'ja Wilson Las Vegas Aces South Carolina
3 Diamond DeShields Chicago Sky Tennessee / Çukurova (Turkey)
8 Victoria Vivians Indiana Fever Mississippi State
13 Jaime Nared Las Vegas Aces Tennessee
22 Mercedes Russell New York Liberty Tennessee
25 Raigyne Louis Las Vegas Aces LSU
27 Mackenzie Engram Atlanta Dream Georgia

Honors and awards

References
  1. "Media tabs Gamecocks as SEC Women's Champion" (Press release). Southeastern Conference. October 16, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  2. "Coaches tab Gamecocks as 2018 SEC women's basketball champs" (Press release). Southeastern Conference. November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  3. NCAA Women's Basketball Division 1 Rankings
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