# 2018–19 Southeastern Conference women's basketball season

The 2018–19 SEC women's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November. Conference play started in early January 2019 and concluded in February, followed by the 2019 SEC women's basketball tournament at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, in March.

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

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

### Pre-season All-SEC teams

| Media | Coaches |
| Teiera McCowan Mississippi State | McCowan |
| Caliya Robinson Georgia | Robinson |
| Anriel Howard Mississippi State | Howard |
| Sophie Cunningham Missouri | Cunningham |
| Rennia Davis Tennessee | Davis |
| Chennedy Carter Texas A&M | Carter |
| Alexis Jennings South Carolina | Tyasha Harris South Carolina |
| | Maci Morris Kentucky |
* 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 | 6th | 84–79 | 71–74 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Arkansas | Mike Neighbors | Washington | 2nd | 13–18 | 3–13 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Auburn | Terri Williams-Flournoy | Georgetown | 7th | 102–91 | 35–63 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Florida | Cameron Newbauer | Belmont | 2nd | 11–19 | 3–13 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia | Joni Taylor | Georgia (ass't) | 4th | 63–32 | 28–20 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Kentucky | Matthew Mitchell | Morehead State | 12th | 256–117 | 108–64 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| LSU | Nikki Fargas | UCLA | 8th | 132–93 | 59–51 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi State | Vic Schaefer | Sam Houston State | 7th | 161–53 | 61–35 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Missouri | Robin Pingeton | Illinois State | 9th | 147–108 | 47–45 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Ole Miss | Yolett McPhee-McCuin | Jacksonville | 1st | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | Dawn Staley | Temple | 11th | 250–87 | 109–49 | 13 | 2 | 1 |
| Tennessee | Holly Warlick | Tennessee (ass't) | 7th | 153–54 | 71–25 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas A&M | Gary Blair | Arkansas | 16th | 758–314 | 62–32 | 24 | 2 | 1 |
| Vanderbilt | Stephanie White | Indiana | 3rd | 21–40 | 11–36 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Weekly rankings

Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. 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 | Wk 18 | Final |
| Alabama | AP | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Alabama | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Arkansas | AP | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Arkansas | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | RV | RV | NR | | | | | | |
| Auburn | AP | NR | | | | | | | | RV | NR | RV | NR | | | | | | | |
| Auburn | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Florida | AP | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Florida | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Georgia | AP | 14 | 14 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | NR | | | RV | NR | | | | | | | |
| Georgia | C | 13 | 24 | RV | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Kentucky | AP | NR | NR | NR | 25 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 11 | 13 | 18 |
| Kentucky | C | NR | RV | 25 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 17 | | | | |
| LSU | AP | NR | NR | NR | RV | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| LSU | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mississippi State | AP | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Mississippi State | C | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | | | | |
| Missouri | AP | 16 | 16 | 21 | RV | 23 | 22 | RV | NR | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | |
| Missouri | C | 14 | 18 | RV | 25 | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | | | | |
| Ole Miss | AP | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ole Miss | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| South Carolina | AP | 10 | 10 | 13 | 18 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 21 | 15 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 16 |
| South Carolina | C | 11 | 12 | 19 | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 14 | 13 | | | | |
| Tennessee | AP | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 20 | RV | NR | | | | | | |
| Tennessee | C | 12 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 17 | RV | NR | | | | | | | |
| Texas A&M | AP | 20 | 20 | 20 | 17 | RV | RV | 23 | 23 | 21 | RV | RV | 24 | 20 | 18 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 17 |
| Texas A&M | C | 22 | 21 | 16 | RV | RV | 24 | 24 | 21 | RV | RV | 25 | 24 | 22 | 23 | 22 | | | | |
| Vanderbilt | AP | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Vanderbilt | C | NR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Regular season matrix

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

## Postseason
### SEC tournament

* March 6–10 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. Teams were seeded by conference record, with ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by record against the regular-season champion.
2019 SEC women's basketball tournament seeds and results :
| Seed | School | Conf. | Over. | Tiebreaker | First round March 6 | Second round March 7 | Quarterfinals March 8 | Semifinals March 9 | Championship March 10 |
| 1 | ‡†Mississippi State | 15–1 | 30–2 | | Bye | Bye | vs. #8 Tennessee W, 83–68 | vs. #5 Missouri W, 71–56 | vs. #10 Arkansas W, 101–70 |
| 2 | †South Carolina | 13–3 | 21–9 | | Bye | Bye | vs. #10 Arkansas L, 89–95 | | |
| 3 | †Texas A&M | 12–4 | 24–7 | | Bye | Bye | vs. #6 Auburn W, 64–62 | vs. #10 Arkansas L, 51–58 | |
| 4 | †Kentucky | 12–5 | 24–7 | | Bye | Bye | vs. #5 Missouri L, 68–70 (OT) | | |
| 5 | #Missouri | 11–6 | 23–10 | | Bye | vs. #13 Florida W, 87–56 | vs. #4 Kentucky W, 70–68 (OT) | vs. #1 Mississippi State L, 56–71 | |
| 6 | #Auburn | 10–7 | 22–9 | 1–0 vs. UGA | Bye | vs. #11 Alabama W, 53–52 | vs. #6 Texas A&M L, 62–64 | | |
| 7 | #Georgia | 9–8 | 18–12 | 0–1 vs. AUB | Bye | vs. #10 Arkansas L, 76–86 | | | |
| 8 | #Tennessee | 8–9 | 19–12 | 1–0 vs. LSU | Bye | vs. #9 LSU W, 69–66 | vs. #1 Mississippi State L, 68–83 | | |
| 9 | #LSU | 7–10 | 16–13 | 0–1 vs. TENN | Bye | vs. #8 Tennessee L, 66–69 | | | |
| 10 | #Arkansas | 7–10 | 20–14 | | Bye | vs. #7 Georgia W, 86–76 | vs. #2 South Carolina W, 95–89 | vs. #3 Texas A&M W, 58–51 | vs. #1 Mississippi State L, 70–101 |
| 11 | Alabama | 5–12 | 14–17 | | vs. #14 Vanderbilt W, 74–57 | vs. #6 Auburn L, 52–53 | | | |
| 12 | Ole Miss | 3–13 | 9–22 | 1–0 vs. UF | vs. #13 Florida L, 57–64 | | | | |
| 13 | Florida | 3–14 | 8–23 | 0–1 vs. MISS | vs. #12 Ole Miss W, 64–57 | vs. #5 Missouri L, 56–87 | | | |
| 14 | Vanderbilt | 2–14 | 7–23 | | vs. #11 Alabama L, 57–74 | | | | |
| ‡ – 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 |
| 1 | Portland | Mississippi State | vs. #16 Southern W, 103–46 | vs. #9 Clemson W, 85–61 | vs. #5 Arizona State W, 76–53 | vs. #2 Oregon L, 84–88 |
| 4 | Chicago | Texas A&M | vs. #11 Wright State W, 84–61 | vs. #5 Marquette W, 78–76 | vs. #1 Notre Dame L, 80–87 | |
| 4 | Greensboro | South Carolina | vs. #13 Belmont W, 74–52 | vs. #5 Florida State W, 72–64 | vs. #1 Baylor L, 68–93 | |
| 6 | Greensboro | Kentucky | vs. #11 Princeton W, 82–77 | vs. #3 NC State L, 57–72 | | |
| 7 | Greensboro | Missouri | vs. #10 Drake W, 77–76 (OT) | vs. #2 Iowa L, 52–68 | | |
| 10 | Chicago | Auburn | vs. #7 BYU L, 64–73 | | | |
| 11 | Albany | Tennessee | vs. #6 UCLA W, 77–89 | | | |
| # Bids: 7 | W-L (%): | TOTAL: 9–7 (.563) | 5–2 (.714) | 3–2 (.600) | 1–2 (.333) | 0–1 (.000) |

### Women's National Invitation Tournament

| School | First round | Second round | Third round |
| Arkansas (2–1) | vs. Houston W, 88–80 (OT) | vs. UAB W, 100–52 | vs. TCU L, 78–82 |

## WNBA draft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | School |
| Teaira McCowan | Indiana Fever | 1 | 3 | Mississippi State |
| Sophie Cunningham | Phoenix Mercury | 2 | 13 | Missouri |
| Anriel Howard | Seattle Storm | 2 | 24 | Mississippi State |
| Caliya Robinson | Indiana Fever | 3 | 28 | Georgia |