# 2017–18 Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs basketball team represented Mississippi State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Bulldogs, led by sixth-year head coach Vic Schaefer, played their home games at Humphrey Coliseum as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
The Bulldogs were coming off a runner-up finish to fellow SEC team South Carolina in the NCAA tournament.
By beating Louisville 73-63 in overtime in the Final Four, Mississippi State played Notre Dame for the national championship; however, the Bulldogs were denied the title again, falling short 61–58 on a last-second three-pointer by Notre Dame's Arike Ogunbowale.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Dominique Dillingham | 00 | G | 5'9" | Senior | Jackson, MS | Graduated |
| Breanna Richardson | 3 | F | 6'1" | Senior | Conyers, GA | Graduated |
| Ketara Chapel | 13 | F | 6'1" | Senior | Temple, TX | Graduated |
| Chinwe Okorie | 45 | C | 6'5" | Senior | Lagos, Nigeria | Graduated |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/03/2017* 6:00 pm | No. 7 | Arkansas–Fort Smith | W 100–67 | | Humphrey Coliseum (1,850) Starkville, MS |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/10/2017* 8:00 pm | No. 7 | Virginia | W 68–53 | 1–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (6,811) Starkville, MS |
| 11/16/2017* 7:00 pm | No. 7 | Georgia State | W 106–50 | 2–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (4,584) Starkville, MS |
| 11/19/2017* 2:00 pm | No. 7 | Southern Miss | W 91–56 | 3–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (5,321) Starkville, MS |
| 11/23/2017* 1:30 pm | No. 7 | vs. No. 24 Arizona State Cancún Challenge Mayan Division | W 65–57 | 4–0 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (982) Cancún, Mexico |
| 11/24/2017* 10:00 am | No. 7 | vs. Columbia Cancún Challenge Mayan Division | W 90–54 | 5–0 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Cancún, Mexico |
| 11/25/2017* 11:00 am | No. 7 | vs. Green Bay Cancún Challenge Mayan Division | W 67–46 | 6–0 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (982) Cancún, Mexico |
| 11/29/2017* 7:00 pm | No. 6 | vs. Louisiana Jackson Showcase | W 94–37 | 7–0 | Mississippi Coliseum (3,578) Jackson, MS |
| 12/03/2017* 1:00 pm, SECN | No. 6 | Oklahoma State Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge | W 79–76 | 8–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (5,138) Starkville, MS |
| 12/10/2017* 2:00 pm | No. 6 | Little Rock | W 86–48 | 9–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (5,010) Starkville, MS |
| 12/13/2017* 6:00 pm, SECN | No. 5 | No. 9 Oregon | W 90–79 | 10–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (5,445) Starkville, MS |
| 12/17/2017* 2:00 pm | No. 5 | Maine | W 83–43 | 11–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (4,953) Starkville, MS |
| 12/20/2017* 4:30 pm | No. 5 | at UNLV Duel in the Desert, Rebel Division | W 103–63 | 12–0 | Cox Pavilion Paradise, NV |
| 12/21/2017* 4:30 pm | No. 5 | vs. Syracuse Duel in the Desert, Rebel Division | W 76–65 | 13–0 | Cox Pavilion Paradise, NV |
| 12/28/2017* 7:00 pm | No. 5 | Mississippi Valley State | W 112–36 | 14–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (8,535) Starkville, MS |
| SEC regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2017 5:00 pm, SECN | No. 5 | at Georgia | W 86–62 | 15–0 (1–0) | Stegeman Coliseum (2,934) Athens, GA |
| 01/04/2018 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 5 | Arkansas | W 111–69 | 16–0 (2–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (5,398) Starkville, MS |
| 01/07/2018 1:00 pm, SECN | No. 5 | at LSU | W 83–70 | 17–0 (3–0) | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (2,525) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 01/11/2018 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 4 | Ole Miss | W 76–45 | 18–0 (4–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (7,161) Starkville, MS |
| 01/14/2018 3:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 4 | Alabama | W 75–61 | 19–0 (5–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (9,010) Starkville, MS |
| 01/21/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 3 | at No. 6 Tennessee | W 71–52 | 20–0 (6–0) | Thompson–Boling Arena (13,436) Knoxville, TN |
| 01/25/2018 7:30 pm, SECN | No. 2 | Florida | W 90–53 | 21–0 (7–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (6,727) Starkville, MS |
| 01/28/2018 1:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 2 | at Ole Miss | W 69–49 | 22–0 (8–0) | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (5,158) Oxford, MS |
| 02/01/2018 7:30 pm, SECN | No. 2 | at No. 15 Missouri | W 57–53 | 23–0 (9–0) | Mizzou Arena (5,095) Columbia, MO |
| 02/05/2018 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 2 | No. 7 South Carolina | W 67–53 | 24–0 (10–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (10,794) Starkville, MS |
| 02/08/2018 6:00 pm | No. 2 | at Florida | W 98–50 | 25–0 (11–0) | O'Connell Center (1,503) Gainesville, FL |
| 02/11/2018 1:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 2 | Kentucky | W 74–55 | 26–0 (12–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (9,520) Starkville, MS |
| 02/15/2018 7:30 pm, SECN | No. 2 | at Vanderbilt | W 95–50 | 27–0 (13–0) | Memorial Gymnasium (2,876) Nashville, TN |
| 02/18/2018 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 2 | No. 17 Texas A&M | W 76–55 | 28–0 (14–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (9,933) Starkville, MS |
| 02/22/2018 7:00 pm | No. 2 | Auburn | W 82–61 | 29–0 (15–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (9,474) Starkville, MS |
| 02/25/2018 11:00 am, ESPNU | No. 2 | at Kentucky | W 85–63 | 30–0 (16–0) | Memorial Coliseum (6,014) Lexington, KY |
| SEC Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/02/2018 12:00 pm, SECN | (1) No. 2 | vs. (9) Kentucky Quarterfinals | W 81–58 | 31–0 | Bridgestone Arena (6,344) Nashville, TN |
| 03/03/2018 4:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) No. 2 | vs. (5) No. 15 Texas A&M Semifinals | W 70–55 | 32–0 | Bridgestone Arena (8,819) Nashville, TN |
| 03/04/2018 3:30 pm, ESPN2 | (1) No. 2 | vs. (2) No. 8 South Carolina Championship | L 51–62 | 32–1 | Bridgestone Arena (8,215) Nashville, TN |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/17/2018* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 KC) No. 4 | (16 KC) Nicholls State First Round | W 95–50 | 33–1 | Humphrey Coliseum (10,211) Starkville, MS |
| 03/19/2018* 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 KC) No. 4 | (9 KC) Oklahoma State Second Round | W 71–56 | 34–1 | Humphrey Coliseum (9,881) Starkville, MS |
| 03/23/2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 KC) No. 4 | vs. (4 KC) No. 21 NC State Sweet Sixteen | W 71–57 | 35–1 | Sprint Center Kansas City, MO |
| 03/25/2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN | (1 KC) No. 4 | vs. (3 KC) No. 9 UCLA Elite Eight | W 89–73 | 36–1 | Sprint Center (4,089) Kansas City, MO |
| 03/30/2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 KC) No. 4 | vs. (1 L) No. 3 Louisville Final Four | W 73–63 $^{OT}$ | 37–1 | Nationwide Arena (19,564) Columbus, OH |
| 04/01/2018* 5:00 pm, ESPN | (1 KC) No. 4 | vs. (1 S) No. 3 Notre Dame Championship Game | L 58–61 | 37–2 | Nationwide Arena (19,599) Columbus, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. KC=Kansas City Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | Not released |
| Coaches | 4 | 3^ | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
^Coaches' Poll did not release a second poll at the same time as the AP.