# 2017–18 Cincinnati Bearcats women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Cincinnati Bearcats women's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The season marked the fifth for the Bearcats as members of the American Athletic Conference. The Bearcats, led by ninth year head coach Jamelle Elliott, played their home games at St. Ursula Academy Gymnasium while their normal on-campus home of Fifth Third Arena was closed for renovation. They finished the season 19–13, 10–6 in AAC play to finish in fourth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the American Athletic women's tournament, where they lost to Connecticut. They received an at-large bid Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they lost in the first round to Michigan State.
Cincinnati announced on March 21 that Elliott would not return after 9 seasons as head coach. She finish at Cincinnati with a 9-year record of 113–162.

## Media

All games will have a video stream on Bearcats TV, ESPN3, or AAC Digital Network

## Offseason
### Departing players

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Brandey Tarver | 13 | G | 5'10" | Senior | Chicago, Illinois | Graduated |
| Bianca Quisenberry | 22 | G | 5'8" | Senior | Springfield, Ohio | Graduated |
| Sydney Petty | 23 | F | 6'0" | RS Freshman | Toledo, Ohio | Transferred to Owens Community College |

### 2017 Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Andeija Puckett F | Griffin, GA | Griffin High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Iimar’i Thomas F | Oakland, CA | Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Michaela Porter G | Pittsburgh, PA | Obama Academy of International Studies | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 87 ||||||
| Brianna Livingston G | Scarborough, ON | Wilfrid Laurier | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 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: ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/02/2017* 7:00 pm | | Findlay | W 77–35 | | Cincinnati State Gym (327) Cincinnati, OH |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/10/2017* 7:00 pm | | at East Tennessee State | L 77–87 | 0–1 | J. Madison Brooks Gymnasium (1,059) Johnson City, TN |
| 11/13/2017* 7:00 pm | | Slippery Rock (PA) | W 85–52 | 1–1 | Cincinnati State Gym Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/15/2017* 7:00 pm | | Southeastern Louisiana | W 82–43 | 2–1 | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (330) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/18/2017* 2:00 pm | | Miami (OH) | W 73–62 | 3–1 | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (500) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/21/2017* 7:00 pm | | Pittsburgh | L 46–66 | 3–2 | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (524) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/25/2017* 2:00 pm | | Eastern Kentucky | W 64–53 | 4–2 | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (371) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/27/2017* 7:00 pm | | Saint Francis (PA) | L 73–77 | 4–3 | Cincinnati State Gym (300) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/30/2017* 7:00 pm | | Southeast Missouri State | W 65–52 | 5–3 | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (330) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/03/2017* 2:00 pm | | at Old Dominion | W 54–33 | 6–3 | Ted Constant Convocation Center (1,809) Norfolk, VA |
| 12/10/2017* 5:00 pm | | at Xavier Crosstown Shootout | L 50–53 | 6–4 | Cintas Center (1,654) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/14/2017* 7:00 pm | | Howard | W 87–53 | 7–4 | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (303) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/17/2017* 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 13 Ohio State | L 76–87 | 7–5 | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (1,087) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/21/2017* 7:00 pm | | Bowling Green | W 75–51 | 8–5 | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (504) Cincinnati, OH |
| AAC regular season ||||||
| 12/30/2017 5:00 pm | | at East Carolina | W 66–54 | 9–5 (1–0) | Williams Arena (785) Greenville, NC |
| 01/03/2018 7:00 pm | | South Florida | L 46–69 | 9–6 (1–1) | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (322) Cincinnati, OH |
| 01/06/2018 3:00 pm | | at Tulsa | L 51–64 | 9–7 (1–2) | Reynolds Center (303) Tulsa, OK |
| 01/10/2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Houston | W 88–82 | 10–7 (2–2) | H&PE Arena (542) Houston, TX |
| 01/13/2018 1:00 pm | | Temple | W 80–72 | 11–7 (3–2) | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (302) Cincinnati, OH |
| 01/21/2018 2:00 pm | | Memphis | W 64–53 | 12–7 (4–2) | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (503) Cincinnati, OH |
| 01/24/2018 8:00 pm, ADN | | at SMU | W 58–40 | 13–7 (5–2) | Moody Coliseum (946) Dallas, TX |
| 01/27/2018 2:00 pm | | East Carolina | L 70–79 $^{OT}$ | 13–8 (5–3) | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (494) Cincinnati, OH |
| 01/30/2018 7:00 pm | | UCF | L 38–50 | 13–9 (5–4) | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (353) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/04/2018 7:00 pm, SNY/ESPN3 | | at No. 1 Connecticut | L 65–106 | 13–10 (5–5) | XL Center (12,342) Hartford, CT |
| 02/07/2018 8:00 pm | | at Wichita State | W 75–69 | 14–10 (6–5) | Charles Koch Arena (1,346) Wichita, KS |
| 02/10/2018 2:00 pm | | Tulane | W 83–52 | 15–10 (7–5) | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (463) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/17/2018 2:00 pm, ADN | | Tulsa | W 78–41 | 16–10 (8–5) | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (502) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/21/2018 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Temple | W 70–52 | 17–10 (9–5) | Liacouras Center (4,305) Philadelphia, PA |
| 02/24/2018 5:00 pm | | at No. 18 South Florida | L 65–84 | 17–11 (9–6) | USF Sun Dome (2,574) Tampa, FL |
| 02/26/2018 7:00 pm | | Houston | W 61–57 | 18–11 (10–6) | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (643) Cincinnati, OH |
| AAC Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/04/2018 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (12) Tulsa Quarterfinals | W 66–65 | 19–11 | Mohegan Sun Arena (6,804) Uncasville, CT |
| 03/05/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (4) | vs. (1) No. 1 Connecticut Semifinals | L 21–75 | 19–12 | Mohegan Sun Arena (6,033) Uncasville, CT |
| WNIT ||||||
| 03/15/2018* 7:00 pm | | at Michigan State First Round | L 75–81 | 19–13 | Breslin Center (1,705) East Lansing, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in EST. ||||||