# 2017–18 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, led by 11th-year head coach Suzy Merchant, played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 19–14, 7–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for ninth place. They lost in the second round of the Big Ten women's tournament to Indiana. They received an at-large bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Cincinnati and Toledo before losing to South Dakota in the third round.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the 2016–17 season 21–12, 9–7 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for sixth place. In the Big Ten tournament, they beat Wisconsin and Michigan before losing in the semifinals to Maryland. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed where the lost in the First Round to Arizona State.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 05, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Lake Superior State | W 111–37 | | Breslin Center (4,919) East Lansing, MI |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 11, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Robert Morris | W 100–58 | 1–0 | Breslin Center (5,038) East Lansing, MI |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Oakland | W 95–63 | 2–0 | Breslin Center (4,362) East Lansing, MI |
| Nov 19, 2017* 12:00 pm | | College of Charleston | W 107–43 | 3–0 | Breslin Center (4,425) East Lansing, MI |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Detroit | W 97–60 | 4–0 | Calihan Hall (817) Detroit, MI |
| Nov 25, 2017* 3:00 pm, SNY | | vs. No. 1 Connecticut Phil Knight Invitational | L 62–96 | 4–1 | Matthew Knight Arena (6,033) Eugene, OR |
| Nov 30, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Miami (FL) ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | L 57–67 | 4–2 | Watsco Center (1,062) Coral Gables, FL |
| Dec 03, 2017* 12:30 pm | | Western Michigan | W 65–62 | 5–2 | Breslin Center (6,313) East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 06, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at No. 3 Notre Dame | L 59–90 | 5–3 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) Notre Dame, IN |
| Dec 09, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Rhode Island | W 82–38 | 6–3 | Breslin Center (5,743) East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 16, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at East Tennessee State | W 83–74 | 7–3 | J. Madison Brooks Gymnasium (1,100) Johnson City, TN |
| Dec 18, 2017* 9:00 pm | | Quinnipiac | W 74–55 | 8–3 | Breslin Center (4,220) East Lansing, MI |
| Dec 21, 2017* 8:30 pm | | vs. No. 22 South Florida New Orleans Shootout | W 83–73 | 9–3 | Convocation Center (420) New Orleans, LA |
| Dec 22, 2017* 6:00 pm | | vs. Mississippi Valley State New Orleans Shootout | W 83–64 | 10–3 | Convocation Center (335) New Orleans, LA |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm | | at Indiana | W 68–46 | 11–3 (1–0) | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (4,303) Bloomington, IN |
| Dec 31, 2017 4:00 pm | | Rutgers | L 58–62 | 11–4 (1–1) | Breslin Center (6,251) East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 03, 2018 7:00 pm | | Northwestern | W 81–51 | 12–4 (2–1) | Breslin Center (6,079) East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 07, 2018 4:00 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | L 77–83 | 12–5 (2–2) | Williams Arena (3,422) Minneapolis, MN |
| Jan 11, 2018 8:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 11 Maryland | W 82–68 | 13–5 (3–2) | Xfinity Center (4,052) College Park, MD |
| Jan 16, 2018 9:00 pm, BTN | | at Illinois | W 67–55 | 14–5 (4–2) | State Farm Center (1,114) Champaign, IL |
| Jan 20, 2018 4:00 pm, BTN | | Indiana | L 65–69 | 14–6 (4–3) | Breslin Center (11,950) East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 23, 2018 7:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 16 Michigan | L 48–71 | 14–7 (4–4) | Crisler Center (3,147) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Jan 27, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | at No. 12 Ohio State | L 62–78 | 14–8 (4–5) | Value City Arena (6,850) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 01, 2018 6:00 pm, BTN | | Iowa | L 68–71 | 14–9 (4–6) | Breslin Center (5,047) East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 04, 2018 2:00 pm | | at Penn State | L 59–74 | 14–10 (4–7) | Bryce Jordan Center (3,521) University Park, PA |
| Feb 08, 2018 7:00 pm, BTN | | No. 10 Maryland | L 68–76 | 14–11 (4–8) | Breslin Center (4,988) East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 11, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 21 Michigan | W 66–61 | 15–11 (5–8) | Breslin Center (12,434) East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm | | Nebraska | L 69–79 | 15–12 (5–9) | Breslin Center (4,972) East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm | | Wisconsin | W 69–61 | 16–12 (6–9) | Breslin Center (5,355) East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 24, 2018 2:00 pm, BTN | | at Purdue | W 82–68 | 17–12 (7–9) | Mackey Arena (6,800) West Lafayette, IN |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| Mar 01, 2018 6:30 pm, RSN | (10) | vs. (7) Indiana Second Round | L 109–111 $^{4OT}$ | 17–13 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| WNIT ||||||
| Mar 15, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Cincinnati First Round | W 81–75 | 18–13 | Breslin Center (1,705) East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 19, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Toledo Second Round | W 68–66 | 19–13 | Breslin Center (2,144) East Lansing, MI |
| Mar 22, 2018* 8:00 pm | | at South Dakota Third Round | L 83–85 $^{OT}$ | 19–14 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (3,072) Vermillion, SD |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source. ||||||

## 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 |