# 2017–18 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team

The 2017–18 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by tenth year head coach Dawn Staley, played their home games at the Colonial Life Arena and were members of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 29–7, 12–4 in SEC play to finish in a tie for second place. They defeated Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi State to win the SEC women's tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament. They defeated North Carolina A&T and Virginia in the first and second rounds, Buffalo in the sweet sixteen before losing to Connecticut in the elite eight.

## Previous season

South Carolina finished the season 33-4 (14-2), winning the SEC Regular season, SEC Tournament Championship, and the NCAA National Championship. Heading into the NCAA tournament South Carolina was the #1 seed in the Stockton regional, where they defeated UNC Asheville, Arizona State, Quinnipiac, and Florida State, to win the Stockton region and get to the Final Four. In the Final Four, South Carolina defeated Stanford 62–53 to advance to the Championship game. On April 2, 2017, South Carolina defeated Mississippi State to win their first national championship. A'ja Wilson won the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Alaina Coates | 41 | C | 6'4" | Senior | Irmo, SC | Graduated/Declared to 2017 WNBA draft |
| Allisha Gray | 10 | G | 6'0" | RS Junior | Sandersville, GA | Declared to 2017 WNBA draft |
| Kaela Davis | 3 | G | 6'2" | RS Junior | Suwanee, GA | Declared to 2017 WNBA draft |
| Araion Bradshaw | 12 | G | 5'6" | Freshman | Hyde Park, MA | Transferred to Dayton |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Te'a Cooper | 2 | G | 5'8" | Sophomore | Powder Springs, GA | Transferred from Tennessee. Will sit out a year due to NCAA rules. |
| Lindsey Spann | 11 | G | 5'6" | RS Senior | Laurel, MD | Transferred from Penn State. Eligible to play immediately since Spann graduated from Penn State University. |

### Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Elisia Grissett W | Durham, NC | Hillside | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 97 ||||||
| Bianca Jackson W | Montgomery, AL | Brewbaker Tech Magnet | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 96 ||||||
| LaDazhia Williams G | Bradenton, FL | Lakewood Ranch | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 96 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/03/2017* 7:00 pm | No. 4 | Coker | W 116–56 | | Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/10/2017* 6:30 pm | No. 4 | Alabama State | W 99–31 | 1–0 | Colonial Life Arena (13,723) Columbia, SC |
| 11/13/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 4 | at No. 15 Maryland | W 94–86 | 2–0 | Xfinity Center (8,677) College Park, MD |
| 11/16/2017* 7:00 pm | No. 4 | at Clemson Rivalry | W 66–36 | 3–0 | Littlejohn Coliseum (1,589) Clemson, SC |
| 11/19/2017* 3:00 pm | No. 4 | Wofford | W 94–60 | 4–0 | Colonial Life Arena (12,471) Columbia, SC |
| 11/24/2017* 1:30 pm | No. 3 | vs. Rutgers Gulf Coast Showcase Quarterfinals | W 78–68 | 5–0 | Germain Arena Estero, FL |
| 11/25/2017* 1:30 pm | No. 3 | vs. St. John's Gulf Coast Showcase semifinals | W 76–58 | 6–0 | Germain Arena Estero, FL |
| 11/26/2017* 1:30 pm | No. 3 | vs. No. 6 Notre Dame Gulf Coast Showcase championship | L 85–92 | 6–1 | Germain Arena Estero, FL |
| 11/30/2017* 7:00 pm | No. 5 | Western Carolina | W 101–43 | 7–1 | Colonial Life Arena (12,020) Columbia, SC |
| 12/03/2017* 12:00 pm, SECN | No. 5 | No. 14 Duke | W 72–52 | 8–1 | Colonial Life Arena (13,054) Columbia, SC |
| 12/05/2017* 7:00 pm | No. 5 | College of Charleston | W 69–43 | 9–1 | Colonial Life Arena (11,732) Columbia, SC |
| 12/17/2017* 3:00 pm | No. 4 | Savannah State | W 99–38 | 10–1 | Colonial Life Arena (13,345) Columbia, SC |
| 12/21/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 4 | at Temple | W 87–60 | 11–1 | Liacouras Center (3,185) Philadelphia, PA |
| 12/31/2017 2:00 pm, SECN | No. 4 | No. 22 Texas A&M | W 61–59 | 12–1 (1–0) | Colonial Life Arena (13,431) Columbia, SC |
| 01/04/2018 7:00 pm | No. 4 | at Ole Miss | W 88–62 | 13–1 (2–0) | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (1,018) Oxford, MS |
| 01/07/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 4 | at No. 16 Missouri | L 74–83 | 13–2 (2–1) | Mizzou Arena (4,652) Columbia, MO |
| 01/11/2018 7:00 pm | No. 9 | Auburn | W 71–63 | 14–2 (3–1) | Colonial Life Arena (12,011) Columbia, SC |
| 01/14/2018 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 9 | No. 6 Tennessee | L 70–86 | 14–3 (3–2) | Colonial Life Arena (14,763) Columbia, SC |
| 01/18/2018 8:00 pm | No. 10 | at Vanderbilt | W 95–82 | 15–3 (4–2) | Memorial Gymnasium (2,231) Nashville, TN |
| 01/21/2018 Noon, ESPNU | No. 10 | at Kentucky | W 81–64 | 16–3 (5–2) | Rupp Arena (6,521) Lexington, KY |
| 01/25/2018 6:30 pm, SECN | No. 9 | Arkansas | W 90–42 | 17–3 (6–2) | Colonial Life Arena (12,844) Columbia, SC |
| 01/28/2018 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 9 | No. 11 Missouri | W 64–54 | 18–3 (7–2) | Colonial Life Arena (13,433) Columbia, SC |
| 02/01/2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 7 | No. 1 Connecticut | L 58–83 | 18–4 | Colonial Life Arena (18,000) Columbia, SC |
| 02/05/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | at No. 2 Mississippi State | L 53–67 | 18–5 (7–3) | Humphrey Coliseum (10,794) Starkville, MS |
| 02/08/2018 7:00 pm, SECN | No. 7 | at Alabama | W 79–66 | 19–5 (8–3) | Coleman Coliseum (2,313) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| 02/11/2018 1:00 pm, SECN | No. 7 | Florida | W 64–57 | 20–5 (9–3) | Colonial Life Arena (15,385) Columbia, SC |
| 02/15/2018 7:00 pm | No. 8 | at No. 20 Georgia | W 77–65 | 21–5 (10–3) | Stegeman Coliseum (4,072) Athens, GA |
| 02/18/2018 3:00 pm, SECN | No. 8 | Kentucky | W 81–63 | 22–5 (11–3) | Colonial Life Arena (14,895) Columbia, SC |
| 02/22/2018 6:30 pm, SECN | No. 7 | No. 24 LSU | W 57–48 | 23–5 (12–3) | Colonial Life Arena (12,385) Columbia, SC |
| 02/25/2018 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | at No. 15 Tennessee | L 46–65 | 23–6 (12–4) | Thompson–Boling Arena (13,058) Knoxville, TN |
| SEC Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/02/2018 7:00 pm, SECN | (2) No. 8 | vs. (7) No. 12 Tennessee Quarterfinals | W 73–62 | 24–6 | Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN |
| 03/03/2018 7:30 pm, ESPNU | (2) No. 8 | vs. (3) No. 19 Georgia Semifinals | W 71–49 | 25–6 | Bridgestone Arena (8,819) Nashville, TN |
| 03/04/2018 4:30 pm, ESPN2 | (2) No. 8 | vs. (1) No. 2 Mississippi State Championship Game | W 62–51 | 26–6 | Bridgestone Arena (8,215) Nashville, TN |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/16/2018* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | (2 A) No. 7 | (15 A) North Carolina A&T First Round | W 63–52 | 27–6 | Colonial Life Arena (11,085) Columbia, SC |
| 03/18/2018* 9:00 pm, ESPN | (2 A) No. 7 | (10 A) Virginia Second Round | W 66–56 | 28–6 | Colonial Life Arena (10,037) Columbia, SC |
| 03/24/2018* 11:30 am, ESPN | (2 A) No. 7 | vs. (11 A) Buffalo Sweet Sixteen | W 79–63 | 29–6 | Times Union Center (10,310) Albany, NY |
| 03/26/2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN | (2 A) No. 7 | vs. (1 A) No. 7 Connecticut Elite Eight | L 65–94 | 29–7 | Times Union Center (9,522) Albany, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. A=Albany Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## 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 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | Not released |
| Coaches | 2 | 2^ | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
^Coaches' Poll did not release a second poll at the same time as the AP.

## Team players drafted into the WNBA

| Round | Pick | Player | WNBA Club |
| 1 | 1 | A'ja Wilson | Las Vegas Aces |