# 2017–18 Mercer Bears women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Mercer Bears women's basketball team represented Mercer University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bears, led by eighth-year head coach Susie Gardner, played their home games at the Hawkins Arena as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 30–3, 14–0 in Southern Conference play win the Southern Conference regular season. They won the SoCon women's tournament for the first time in school history and earns their first automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament, where they lost to Georgia in the first round.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/10/2017* 5:30 pm | | at UCF | W 74–63 | 1–0 | CFE Arena (3,574) Orlando, FL |
| 11/12/2017* 2:00 pm | | at Florida Atlantic | W 66–55 | 2–0 | FAU Arena (587) Boca Raton, FL |
| 11/16/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Georgia Southern | W 72–45 | 3–0 | Hawkins Arena (1,172) Macon, GA |
| 11/19/2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Georgia | L 54–72 | 3–1 | Hawkins Arena (2,731) Macon, GA |
| 11/24/2017* 6:00 pm | | vs. Western Kentucky GSU Thanksgiving Classic | L 62–67 | 3–2 | GSU Sports Arena (401) Atlanta, GA |
| 11/26/2017* 5:00 pm | | vs. VCU GSU Thanksgiving Classic | W 70–54 | 4–2 | GSU Sports Arena (331) Atlanta, GA |
| 11/30/2017* 7:00 pm | | at Campbell | W 58–57 | 5–2 | Gore Arena (876) Buies Creek, NC |
| 12/03/2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Davidson | W 69–54 | 6–2 | Hawkins Arena (832) Macon, GA |
| 12/06/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | George Washington | W 61–44 | 7–2 | Hawkins Arena (852) Macon, GA |
| 12/10/2017* 1:00 pm | | at UNC Asheville | W 67–56 | 8–2 | Kimmel Arena (1,081) Asheville, NC |
| 12/17/2017* 2:00 pm | | Winthrop | W 93–45 | 9–2 | Hawkins Arena (634) Macon, GA |
| 12/19/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | South Carolina State | W 74–53 | 10–2 | Hawkins Arena (679) Macon, GA |
| 12/21/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Howard | W 70–44 | 11–2 | Hawkins Arena (749) Macon, GA |
| 12/28/2017* 2:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at North Carolina | W 97–86 | 12–2 | Carmichael Arena (2,988) Chapel Hill, NC |
| 12/30/2017* 4:00 pm | | at Charlotte | W 90–74 | 13–2 | Dale F. Halton Arena (863) Charlotte, NC |
| SoCon Regular Season ||||||
| 01/04/2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wofford | W 71–46 | 14–2 (1–0) | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (342) Spartanburg, SC |
| 01/06/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Furman | W 86–64 | 15–2 (2–0) | Timmons Arena (527) Greenville, SC |
| 01/13/2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Samford | W 73–59 | 16–2 (3–0) | Pete Hanna Center (293) Birmingham, AL |
| 01/18/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UNC Greensboro | W 80–57 | 17–2 (4–0) | Hawkins Arena (1,827) Macon, GA |
| 01/20/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Western Carolina | W 72–50 | 18–2 (5–0) | Hawkins Arena (1,821) Macon, GA |
| 01/25/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at East Tennessee State | W 85–65 | 19–2 (6–0) | J. Madison Brooks Gymnasium (1,022) Johnson City, TN |
| 01/27/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Chattanooga | W 71–50 | 20–2 (7–0) | McKenzie Arena Chattanooga, TN |
| 02/01/2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Furman | W 65–53 | 21–2 (8–0) | Hawkins Arena (1,427) Macon, GA |
| 02/03/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wofford | W 80–39 | 22–2 (9–0) | Hawkins Arena (2,327) Macon, GA |
| 02/10/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Samford | W 48–45 | 23–2 (10–0) | Hawkins Arena (1,424) Macon, GA |
| 02/15/2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Carolina | W 53–46 | 24–2 (11–0) | Ramsey Center (621) Cullowhee, NC |
| 02/17/2018 4:00 pm | | at UNC Greensboro | W 57–54 | 25–2 (12–0) | Fleming Gymnasium (416) Greensboro, NC |
| 02/22/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Chattanooga | W 65–56 | 26–2 (13–0) | Hawkins Arena (1,672) Macon, GA |
| 02/24/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | East Tennessee State | W 63–48 | 27–2 (14–0) | Hawkins Arena (1,821) Macon, GA |
| SoCon Tournament ||||||
| 03/01/2018 11:00 am, ESPN3 | (1) No. 25 | vs. (8) Western Carolina Quarterfinals | W 75–44 | 28–2 | U.S. Cellular Center Asheville, NC |
| 03/02/2018 11:00 am, ESPN3 | (1) No. 25 | vs. (5) Samford Semifinals | W 81–44 | 29–2 | U.S. Cellular Center Asheville, NC |
| 03/04/2018 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) No. 25 | vs. (2) East Tennessee State Championship Game | W 68–53 | 30–2 | U.S. Cellular Center Asheville, NC |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/17/2018* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | (13 A) No. 25 | at (4 A) No. 18 Georgia First Round | L 63–68 | 30–3 | Stegeman Coliseum (3,457) Athens, GA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. A=Albany Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked |