# 2017–18 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Blue Raiders, led by thirteenth year head coach Rick Insell, played their home games at the Murphy Center and were third year members of Conference USA. They finished the season 18–13, 10–6 in C-USA play to finish in a 4 way tie third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the C-USA women's tournament to Rice. They received an at-large bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they lost to Ball State in the first round.

## Previous season

They finished the season 23–11, 15–3 in C-USA play to finish in second place. They advanced to the semifinals of the C-USA women's tournament where they lost to Southern Miss. They received an automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Morehead State and Wake Forest in the first and second rounds before losing to Georgia Tech in the third round.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/29/2017* 3:00 pm | | Tennessee Wesleyan | W 89–34 | | Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN |
| 11/02/2017* 5:30 pm | | Trevecca Nazarene | W 88–41 | | Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/10/2017* 6:00 pm | | at Vanderbilt | W 65–54 | 1–0 | Memorial Gymnasium (2,866) Nashville, TN |
| 11/14/2017* 6:30 pm | | Tennessee Tech | W 58–44 | 2–0 | Murphy Center (3,912) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 11/19/2017* 2:00 pm | | Lipscomb | W 72–48 | 3–0 | Murphy Center (4,122) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 11/26/2017* 1:00 pm | | at UNC Asheville | W 72–57 | 4–0 | Kimmel Arena (1,323) Asheville, NC |
| 11/29/2017* 7:00 pm, SECN | | at Ole Miss | L 56–65 | 4–1 | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (1,112) Oxford, MS |
| 12/03/2017* 12:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Georgia Tech | L 45–48 | 4–2 | Hank McCamish Pavilion (921) Atlanta, GA |
| 12/05/2017* 11:00 am | | Coppin State | W 69–39 | 5–2 | Murphy Center (11,305) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 12/09/2017* 6:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at No. 4 Louisville | L 26–80 | 5–3 | KFC Yum! Center (6,752) Louisville, KY |
| 12/14/2017* 6:30 pm | | Troy | W 73–57 | 6–3 | Murphy Center (3,986) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 12/17/2017* 2:00 pm | | at Tulane | L 44–62 | 6–4 | Devlin Fieldhouse (545) New Orleans, LA |
| 12/19/2017* 4:30 pm | | vs. USC UTRGV Holiday Classic | L 57–72 | 6–5 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (89) Edinburg, TX |
| 12/20/2017* 4:30 pm | | vs. Canisius UTRGV Holiday Classic | W 55–44 | 7–5 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (94) Edinburg, TX |
| 12/20/2017* 4:30 pm | | Kentucky | W 62–57 | 8–5 | Murphy Center (4,209) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| 01/04/2018 7:00 pm, FCSA | | at Western Kentucky | L 43–57 | 8–6 (0–1) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,811) Bowling Green, KY |
| 01/06/2018 6:00 pm | | UAB | L 51–59 | 8–7 (0–2) | Murphy Center (3,940) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/11/2018 11:00 am | | at UTSA | W 62–47 | 9–7 (1–2) | Convocation Center (1,202) San Antonio, TX |
| 01/13/2018 1:00 pm | | at UTEP | W 54–45 | 10–7 (2–2) | Don Haskins Center (617) El Paso, TX |
| 01/18/2018 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | North Texas | W 56–48 | 11–7 (3–2) | Murphy Center (3,230) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/20/2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Southern Miss | L 53–61 | 11–8 (3–3) | Murphy Center (3,470) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/26/2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Marshall | W 73–57 | 12–8 (4–3) | Cam Henderson Center (433) Huntington, WV |
| 01/28/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Charlotte | W 64–45 | 13–8 (5–3) | Murphy Center (3,441) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 02/01/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Louisiana Tech | L 49–66 | 13–9 (5–4) | Murphy Center (3,436) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 02/08/2018 6:00 pm | | at Florida Atlantic | W 69–65 | 14–9 (6–4) | FAU Arena (692) Boca Raton, FL |
| 02/10/2018 1:00 pm, beIN | | at FIU | W 63–59 | 15–9 (7–4) | FIU Arena (327) Miami, FL |
| 02/15/2018 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Western Kentucky | L 60–76 | 15–10 (7–5) | Murphy Center (4,061) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 02/17/2018 2:00 pm | | Rice | W 51–41 | 16–10 (8–5) | Murphy Center (4,235) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 02/22/2018 11:00 am | | at UAB | L 43–57 | 16–11 (8–6) | Bartow Arena (1,011) Birmingham, AL |
| 02/25/2018 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Charlotte | W 54–53 | 17–11 (9–6) | Dale F. Halton Arena (789) Charlotte, NC |
| 03/03/2018 3:00 pm | | Old Dominion | W 65–47 | 18–11 (10–6) | Murphy Center (10,050) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Conference USA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/08/2018 11:30 am | (4) | vs. (5) Rice Quarterfinals | L 36–61 | 18–12 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| WNIT ||||||
| 03/15/2018* 6:00 pm | | at Ball State First Round | L 60–69 | 18–13 | Worthen Arena (1,083) Muncie, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | No Change |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked |