# 2017–18 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The team played its home games in Lexington, Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum with three games at Rupp Arena. The team was led by Matthew Mitchell in his eleventh season as head coach. They are a member of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 6–10 in SEC play to finish in ninth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the SEC women's tournament, where they lost to Mississippi State. They missed the postseason for the first time since 2004.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the season 22–11, 11–5 in SEC play to finish in a tie for third place. They advanced to the semifinals of the SEC women's tournament where they lost to South Carolina. They received an at-large to the NCAA women's tournament where they defeated Belmont in the first round before losing to Ohio State in the second round.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Evelyn Akhator | 13 | F | 6'3" | Senior | Lagos, Nigeria | Graduated/Declared for 2017 WNBA draft |
| Makayla Epps | 25 | G | 5'10'' | Senior | Lebanon, Kentucky | Graduated/Declared for 2017 WNBA draft |

### Newcomers

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Keke McKinney F | Knoxville, TN | Fulton | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Dorie Harrison F | Nashville, TN | Hillsboro | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Kameron Roach G | Hopkins, SC | Lower Richland | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Tatyanna Wyatt F | Columbus, GA | Columbus | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Amanda Paschal G | Brooklyn, NY | Gulf Coast State College | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/05/2017* 7:00 pm | | Southern Indiana | W 87–56 | | Memorial Coliseum (1,089) Lexington, KY |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/10/2017* 7:00 pm | | Sacramento State Matthew Mitchell Classic | W 101–70 | 1–0 | Memorial Coliseum (4,313) Lexington, KY |
| 11/12/2017* 2:00 pm | | Gardner–Webb Matthew Mitchell Classic | W 72–34 | 2–0 | Memorial Coliseum (4,256) Lexington, KY |
| 11/16/2017* 9:00 pm | No. 25 | at Montana | W 71–54 | 3–0 | Dahlberg Arena (2,808) Missoula, MT |
| 11/19/2017* 4:00 pm, P12N | No. 25 | at Washington State | W 73–68 | 4–0 | Beasley Coliseum (991) Pullman, WA |
| 11/22/2017* 2:00 pm | No. 22 | Morehead State Matthew Mitchell Classic | W 86–53 | 5–0 | Memorial Coliseum (4,710) Lexington, KY |
| 11/26/2017* 2:00 pm | No. 22 | Marshall | W 69–39 | 6–0 | Memorial Coliseum (4,276) Lexington, KY |
| 11/30/2017* 8:00 pm, FCS | No. 20 | at No. 9 Baylor Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge | L 63–90 | 6–1 | Ferrell Center (5,356) Waco, TX |
| 12/03/2017* 2:00 pm | No. 20 | Tennessee Tech | W 82–54 | 7–1 | Memorial Coliseum (4,561) Lexington, KY |
| 12/05/2017* 7:00 pm | No. 20 | Evansville | W 100–62 | 8–1 | Memorial Coliseum (4,071) Lexington, KY |
| 12/08/2017* 7:00 pm | No. 20 | at Florida Gulf Coast | L 64–70 | 8–2 | Alico Arena (2,343) Fort Myers, FL |
| 12/10/2017* 1:00 pm | No. 20 | at Miami (FL) | L 54–65 | 8–3 | Watsco Center (868) Coral Gables, FL |
| 12/17/2017* 3:00 pm, SECN | | No. 3 Louisville The Battle for the Bluegrass | L 63–87 | 8–4 | Memorial Coliseum (5,871) Lexington, KY |
| 12/21/2017* Noon, SECN | | No. 24 California | L 52–62 | 8–5 | Memorial Coliseum (4,753) Lexington, KY |
| 12/28/2017* 7:30 pm | | at Middle Tennessee | L 57–62 | 8–6 | Murphy Center (4,209) Murfreesboro, TN |
| SEC regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2017 Noon, SECN | | No. 7 Tennessee Rivalry | L 49–63 | 8–7 (0–1) | Rupp Arena (8,921) Lexington, KY |
| 01/04/2018 7:00 pm, SECN | | at No. 22 Texas A&M | L 70–74 | 8–8 (0–2) | Reed Arena (3,662) College Station, TX |
| 01/07/2018 2:00 pm | | Georgia | L 42–56 | 8–9 (0–3) | Memorial Coliseum (5,782) Lexington, KY |
| 01/11/2018 7:00 pm | | at Florida | W 56–53 | 9–9 (1–3) | O'Connell Center (1,509) Gainesville, FL |
| 01/15/2018 7:00 pm, SECN | | at Vanderbilt | L 55–70 | 9–10 (1–4) | Memorial Gymnasium (2,215) Nashville, TN |
| 01/21/2018 Noon, ESPNU | | No. 10 South Carolina | L 64–81 | 9–11 (1–5) | Rupp Arena (6,521) Lexington, KY |
| 01/25/2018 7:00 pm | | Alabama | W 79–54 | 10–11 (2–5) | Memorial Coliseum (4,957) Lexington, KY |
| 01/29/2018 7:00 pm, SECN | | at Arkansas | W 76–65 | 11–11 (3–5) | Bud Walton Arena (1,313) Fayetteville, AR |
| 02/01/2018 7:00 pm | | Auburn | W 65–48 | 12–11 (4–5) | Memorial Coliseum (4,151) Lexington, KY |
| 02/04/2018 Noon, SECN | | LSU | L 70–72 | 12–12 (4–6) | Rupp Arena (4,521) Lexington, KY |
| 02/08/2018 9:00 pm, SECN | | at No. 15 Missouri | L 78–83 | 12–13 (4–7) | Mizzou Arena (3,430) Columbia, MO |
| 02/11/2018 2:00 pm, ESPNU | | at No. 2 Mississippi State | L 55–74 | 12–14 (4–8) | Humphrey Coliseum (9,520) Starkville, MS |
| 02/15/2018 7:00 pm | | Arkansas | W 78–57 | 13–14 (5–8) | Memorial Coliseum (5,306) Lexington, KY |
| 02/18/2018 3:00 pm, SECN | | at No. 8 South Carolina | L 63–81 | 13–15 (5–9) | Colonial Life Arena (14,895) Columbia, SC |
| 02/22/2018 8:30 pm, SECN | | at Ole Miss | W 79–71 | 14–15 (6–9) | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (1,141) Oxford, MS |
| 02/25/2018 Noon, ESPNU | | No. 2 Mississippi State | L 63–85 | 14–16 (6–10) | Memorial Coliseum (6,014) Lexington, KY |
| SEC Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/01/2018 1:00 pm, SECN | (9) | vs. (8) Alabama Second Round | W 71–64 | 15–16 | Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN |
| 03/02/2018 1:00 pm, SECN | (9) | vs. (1) No. 2 Mississippi State Quarterfinals | L 58–81 | 15–17 | Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | RV | 25 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 20 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | RV | RV^ | RV | 22 | 23 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | |
^Coaches' Poll did not release a second poll at the same time as the AP.