# 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.

## Pre-season
### Pre-season team predictions

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

### Pre-season All-SEC teams

| Media | Coaches |
| 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

Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV=Received votes. NR=No rank/vote. :
| | | Pre | Wk 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 |
| Alabama | AP | NR | RV | RV | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Alabama | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Arkansas | AP | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Arkansas | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Auburn | AP | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Auburn | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Florida | AP | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Florida | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Georgia | AP | NR | NR | RV | RV | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | RV | 21 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 19 | 19 |
| Georgia | 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 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Kentucky | 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 |
| LSU | 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 |
| Mississippi State | 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 |
| Missouri | C | 16 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 13 | |
| Ole Miss | AP | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ole Miss | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| South Carolina | AP | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| South Carolina | 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 |
| Tennessee | 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 |
| Texas A&M | C | RV | 25 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 21 | 19 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 18 | 16 | |
| Vanderbilt | AP | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Vanderbilt | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Source:

## 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 | – | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Arkansas | 1–1 | – | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. Auburn | 0–1 | 1–0 | – | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| vs. Florida | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | – | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| vs. Georgia | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | – | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Kentucky | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | – | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. LSU | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | – | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Mississippi State | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | – | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| vs. Missouri | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | – | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Ole Miss | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | – | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. South Carolina | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | – | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Tennessee | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | – | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Texas A&M | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | – | 0–1 |
| vs. Vanderbilt | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | – |
| Total | 7–9 | 3–13 | 5–11 | 3–13 | 12–4 | 6–10 | 11–5 | 16–0 | 11–5 | 1–15 | 12–4 | 11–5 | 11–5 | 3–13 |

## Attendance

| Team | Arena | Capacity | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Game 8 | Total | Average | % of capacity |
| Team | Arena | Capacity | Game 9 | Game 10 | Game 11 | Game 12 | Game 13 | Game 14 | Game 15 | Game 16 | Total | Average | % of capacity |
| 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% |
| Alabama | Coleman Coliseum | 15,383 | 1,370 | 2,323 | 2,117 | 2,643 | | | | | 27,770 | 2,314 | 15% |
| 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% |
| Arkansas | Bud Walton Arena | 19,368 | 1,288 | 1,313 | | | | | | | 17,721 | 1,172 | 6% |
| 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% |
| Auburn | Auburn Arena | 9,121 | 2,110 | 3,357 | | | | | | | 21,295 | 2,130 | 23% |
| 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% |
| Florida | O'Connell Center | 10,133 | 1,206 | 1,305 | 1,509 | 1,332 | 2,601 | 1,701 | | | 20,886 | 1,492 | 15% |
| 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% |
| Georgia | Stegeman Coliseum | 10,523 | 2,614 | 2,934 | 2,229 | 5,012 | 2,668 | | | | 41,901 | 3,223 | 31% |
| 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% |
| Kentucky | Memorial Coliseum | 10,000 | 8,921 | 5,782 | 6,521 | 4,957 | | | | | 62,992 | 5,249 | 52% |
| 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% |
| Mississippi State | Humphrey Coliseum | 10,575 | 5,398 | 7,161 | 9,010 | 6,727 | | | | | 74,093 | 6,174 | 58% |
| 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% |
| Missouri | Mizzou Arena | 15,061 | 4,652 | 5,219 | | | | | | | 38,473 | 3,847 | 26% |
| 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% |
| Ole Miss | The Pavilion at Ole Miss | 9,500 | 1,018 | 1,323 | 931 | 5,158 | | | | | 42,257 | 3,521 | 37% |
| 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% |
| South Carolina | Colonial Life Arena | 18,000 | 14,763 | 12,844 | 13,433 | 18,000 | | | | | 160,827 | 13,402 | 74% |
| 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% |
| Tennessee | Thompson–Boling Arena | 21,678 | 10,023 | 13,436 | 9,016 | | | | | | 97,531 | 8,867 | 41% |
| 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% |
| Texas A&M | Reed Arena | 12,989 | 3,886 | 4,316 | 3,662 | 5,053 | 4,702 | 3,506 | | | 53,910 | 3,851 | 30% |
| Vanderbilt | Memorial Gymnasium | 14,316 | 2,866 | 5,367 | | 2,495 | 2,292 | | 2,330 | 2,153 | 27,067 | 2,707 | 19% |
| Vanderbilt | Memorial Gymnasium | 14,316 | 2,112 | 2,212 | 2,231 | 3,009 | | | | | 27,067 | 2,707 | 19% |

## Postseason
### SEC 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

| 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, 73–63$^{OT}$ | 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

| 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

| 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 |