# 2017–18 Ohio State Buckeyes women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Ohio State Buckeyes women's basketball team represented the Ohio State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Buckeyes, led by 5th year head coach Kevin McGuff, played their home games at Value City Arena and were a member of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 28–7, 13–3 in Big Ten play to win the regular season title. They defeated Rutgers, Minnesota, and Maryland to win the Big Ten women's basketball tournament. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament as the No. 3 seed in the Spokane region. There they defeated George Washington in the first round before being upset by No. 11-seeded Central Michigan in the second round.

## Previous season

The Buckeyes finished the 2016–17 season 28–7, 15–1 in Big Ten play to win a share of the Big Ten regular season title with Maryland. They defeated Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten women's basketball tournament before losing to Purdue. They received at-large bid of the NCAA women's tournament as the No. 5 seed in the Lexington region. There they defeated Western Kentucky and Kentucky to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they lost to Notre Dame.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 29, 2017* 2:00 pm | No. 5 | Ashland | W 110–80 | | Value City Arena (4,750) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 05, 2017* 1:00 pm | No. 5 | Urbana | W 135–54 | | Value City Arena (4,190) Columbus, OH |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 2:00 pm, BTN | No. 5 | No. 10 Stanford | W 85–64 | 1–0 | St. John Arena (5,854) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 12, 2017* 4:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 5 | vs. No. 9 Louisville Countdown to Columbus | L 90–95 $^{OT}$ | 1–1 | Nationwide Arena (9,711) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 15, 2017* 7:00 pm | No. 9 | Idaho | W 99–56 | 2–1 | Value City Arena (3,960) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 17, 2017* 7:00 pm | No. 9 | Quinnipiac | W 95–63 | 3-1 | Value City Arena (3,793) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 19, 2017* 11:00 am | No. 9 | Washington | W 85–76 | 4–1 | Value City Arena (4,335) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 23, 2017* 6:00 pm | No. 9 | vs. Memphis Play4Kay Showcase Quarterfinals | W 100–69 | 5–1 | Mandalay Bay Arena (N/A) Las Vegas, NV |
| Nov 24, 2017* 8:30 pm | No. 9 | vs. Florida Gulf Coast Play4Kay Showcase Semifinals | W 104–62 | 6–1 | Mandalay Bay Arena (N/A) Las Vegas, NV |
| Nov 25, 2017* 11:00 pm | No. 9 | vs. No. 14 Stanford Play4Kay Showcase Championship | W 94–83 $^{OT}$ | 7–1 | Mandalay Bay Arena (N/A) Las Vegas, NV |
| Nov 30, 2017* 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 8 | at No. 14 Duke ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | L 60–69 | 7–2 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (5,535) Durham, NC |
| Dec 03, 2017* 1:00 pm | No. 8 | Maine | W 83–70 | 8–2 | Value City Arena (5,879) Columbus, OH |
| Dec 06, 2017* 5:30 pm | No. 12 | at Florida | W 103–77 | 9–2 | O'Connell Center (1,512) Gainesville, FL |
| Dec 15, 2017* 7:00 pm | No. 13 | Dartmouth | W 103–70 | 10–2 | Value City Arena (5,086) Columbus, OH |
| Dec 17, 2017* 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | at Cincinnati | W 87–76 | 11–2 | Saint Ursula Academy Gym (1,072) Cincinnati, OH |
| Dec 28, 2017 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 12 | at Nebraska | W 73–61 | 12–2 (1–0) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (4,383) Lincoln, NE |
| Dec 31, 2017 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 12 | Indiana | W 85–70 | 13–2 (2–0) | Value City Arena (6,364) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 04, 2018 7:00 pm | No. 10 | Minnesota | W 91–75 | 14–2 (3–0) | Value City Arena (4,519) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 07, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 10 | at No. 22 Michigan Rivalry | W 78–71 $^{OT}$ | 15–2 (4–0) | Crisler Center (8,313) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Jan 13, 2018 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 10 | at Indiana | W 77–62 | 16–2 (5–0) | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (2,983) Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 16, 2018 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 8 | No. 19 Michigan Rivalry | L 75–84 | 16–3 (5–1) | Value City Arena (4,774) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 22, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 12 | at No. 14 Maryland | L 69–99 | 16–4 (5–2) | Xfinity Center (7,944) College Park, MD |
| Jan 25, 2018 8:00 pm | No. 12 | at Iowa | L 89–103 | 16–5 (5–3) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (6,012) Iowa City, IA |
| Jan 27, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 12 | Michigan State | W 78–62 | 17–5 (6–3) | Value City Arena (6,850) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 31, 2018 7:00 pm | No. 18 | Penn State | W 94–64 | 18–5 (7–3) | Value City Arena (5,449) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 02, 2018 1:00 pm, BTN | No. 18 | at Wisconsin | W 68–55 | 19–5 (8–3) | Kohl Center (6,623) Madison, WI |
| Feb 08, 2018 7:00 pm | No. 13 | Rutgers | W 90–68 | 20–5 (9–3) | Value City Arena (4,505) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 11, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | at South Florida | L 65–84 | 20–6 | USF Sun Dome (2,852) Tampa, FL |
| Feb 13, 2018 8:00 pm | No. 16 | at Illinois | W 88–69 | 21–6 (10–3) | State Farm Center (1,149) Champaign, IL |
| Feb 18, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 16 | Purdue | W 73–60 | 22–6 (11–3) | Value City Arena (8,081) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm | No. 14 | Northwestern | W 88–54 | 23–6 (12–3) | Value City Arena (4,774) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 25, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 14 | Penn State | W 89–64 | 24–6 (13–3) | Bryce Jordan Center (7,517) University Park, PA |
| Big Ten Women's Tournament ||||||
| Mar 02, 2018 12:00 pm, RSN | (1) No. 13 | vs. (9) Rutgers Quarterfinals | W 82–57 | 25–6 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| Mar 03, 2018 6:00 pm, BTN | (1) No. 13 | vs. (4) Minnesota Semifinals | W 90–88 | 26–6 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| Mar 04, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1) No. 13 | vs. (2) No. 17 Maryland Championship Game | W 79–69 | 27–6 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (4,519) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| Mar 17, 2018* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | (3 S) No. 10 | (14 S) George Washington First Round | W 87–45 | 28–6 | St. John Arena (4,253) Columbus, OH |
| Mar 19, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | (3 S) No. 10 | (11 S) Central Michigan Second Round | L 78–95 | 28–7 | St. John Arena (3,571) Columbus, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=Spokane Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |