# 2016–17 Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team

The 2016–17 Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team represented Mississippi State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by fifth year head coach Vic Schaefer. They played their home games at Humphrey Coliseum and are members of the Southeastern Conference.
The Bulldogs finished regular season play at 27–3, 13–3 in the SEC, before continuing into the post-season. They advanced to the finals of their conference tournament as the #2 seed, but lost to #1 seed South Carolina. They entered the NCAA Tournament as a #2 seed in the Oklahoma City regional. They beat the #3 seed Washington Huskies team in the regional semifinals to advance to the regional final against #1 seed Baylor. The Bulldogs won in overtime to clinch their first Final Four berth. This victory earned them the distinction of playing an undefeated UConn Huskies team, holder of a 111-game winning streak extending over three seasons. By upsetting the Huskies 66-64 in overtime on a buzzer-beating jumper by Morgan William, they advanced to play South Carolina in the 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Game for the national title, which they lost.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/03/2016* 6:00 pm | No. 10 | Arkansas–Fort Smith | W 88–62 | | Humphrey Coliseum (1,736) Starkville, MS |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 6:30 pm | No. 10 | vs. Villanova Maine Tip-Off Tournament semifinals | W 108–62 | 1–0 | Cross Insurance Center (2,416) Bangor, ME |
| 11/12/2016* 6:00 pm | No. 10 | at Maine Maine Tip-Off Tournament championship | W 87–43 | 2–0 | Cross Insurance Center (2,182) Bangor, ME |
| 11/16/2016* 7:00 pm | No. 10 | vs. Tulane | W 66–49 | 3–0 | Mississippi Coast Coliseum (1,724) Biloxi, MS |
| 11/20/2016* 5:00 pm, SECN | No. 10 | No. 8 Texas | W 79–68 | 4–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (7,764) Starkville, MS |
| 11/25/2016* 8:00 pm | No. 7 | vs. Oregon Rainbow Wahine Shootout | W 75–63 | 5–0 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI |
| 11/26/2016* 8:00 pm | No. 7 | vs. San Jose State Rainbow Wahine Shootout | W 88–51 | 6–0 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI |
| 11/27/2016* 9:30 pm | No. 7 | at Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Shootout | W 66–41 | 7–0 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI |
| 12/03/2016* 1:30 pm, FSN | No. 6 | at Iowa State Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge | W 85–81 $^{OT}$ | 8–0 | Hilton Coliseum (10,643) Ames, IA |
| 12/10/2016* 4:00 pm | No. 5 | at Southern Miss | W 72–50 | 9–0 | Reed Green Coliseum (2,890) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 12/13/2016* 6:30 pm | No. 5 | at Little Rock | W 58–44 | 10–0 | Jack Stephens Center (1,534) Little Rock, AR |
| 12/16/2016* 10:00 pm | No. 5 | vs. SMU Women of Troy Classic semifinals | W 92–41 | 11–0 | Galen Center (717) Los Angeles, CA |
| 12/18/2016* 3:00 pm | No. 5 | at USC Women of Troy Classic championship | W 76–72 | 12–0 | Galen Center (1,213) Los Angeles, CA |
| 12/20/2016* 7:00 pm | No. 5 | Alabama State | W 90–47 | 13–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (5,786) Starkville, MS |
| 12/28/2016* 7:00 pm | No. 5 | Northwestern State | W 106–30 | 14–0 | Humphrey Coliseum (6,352) Starkville, MS |
| SEC regular season ||||||
| 01/01/2017 2:00 pm, SECN | No. 5 | LSU | W 74–48 | 15–0 (1–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (5,849) Starkville, MS |
| 01/05/2017 7:00 pm | No. 4 | at Arkansas | W 59–51 | 16–0 (2–0) | Bud Walton Arena (1,233) Fayetteville, AR |
| 01/08/2017 1:00 pm | No. 4 | at Tennessee | W 74–64 | 17–0 (3–0) | Thompson–Boling Arena (8,553) Knoxville, TN |
| 01/12/2017 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 4 | Florida | W 82–49 | 18–0 (4–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (5,575) Starkville, MS |
| 01/16/2017 6:00 pm, SECN | No. 4 | Ole Miss | W 73–62 | 19–0 (5–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (8,840) Starkville, MS |
| 01/19/2017 7:00 pm, SECN | No. 4 | at Alabama | W 67–54 | 20–0 (6–0) | Coleman Coliseum (2,605) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| 01/23/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 4 | at No. 5 South Carolina | L 61–64 | 20–1 (6–1) | Colonial Life Arena (13,120) Columbia, SC |
| 01/29/2017 6:00 pm, SECN | No. 4 | Texas A&M | W 71–61 | 21–1 (7–1) | Humphrey Coliseum (7,780) Starkville, MS |
| 02/02/2017 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 5 | at Auburn | W 77–47 | 22–1 (8–1) | Auburn Arena (1,969) Auburn, AL |
| 02/05/2017 1:30 pm, ESPNU | No. 5 | Missouri | W 70–53 | 23–1 (9–1) | Humphrey Coliseum (5,792) Starkville, MS |
| 02/09/2017 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 4 | Vanderbilt | W 86–41 | 24–1 (10–1) | Humphrey Coliseum (5,052) Starkville, MS |
| 02/12/2017 3:00 pm, SECN | No. 4 | at Ole Miss | W 66–44 | 25–1 (11–1) | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (4,634) Oxford, MS |
| 02/16/2017 7:00 pm | No. 3 | Georgia | W 58–49 | 26–1 (12–1) | Humphrey Coliseum (5,431) Starkville, MS |
| 02/19/2017 2:00 pm, SECN | No. 3 | at No. 23 Texas A&M | W 72–67 | 27–1 (13–1) | Reed Arena (5,243) College Station, TX |
| 02/23/2017 6:00 pm | No. 3 | at No. 22 Kentucky | L 75–78 $^{OT}$ | 27–2 (13–2) | Memorial Colisuem (5,244) Lexington, KY |
| 02/26/2017 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 3 | Tennessee | L 64–82 | 27–3 (13–3) | Humphrey Coliseum (10,500) Starkville, MS |
| SEC Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/03/2017 5:00 pm, SECN | (2) No. 6 | vs. (7) LSU quarterfinals | W 78–61 | 28–3 | Bon Secours Wellness Arena (4,330) Greenville, SC |
| 03/04/2017 6:30 pm, ESPNU | (2) No. 6 | vs. (6) Texas A&M semifinals | W 66–50 | 29–3 | Bon Secours Wellness Arena (7,554) Greenville, SC |
| 03/05/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN | (2) No. 6 | vs. (1) No. 5 South Carolina championship game | L 49–59 | 29–4 | Bon Secours Wellness Arena (7,715) Greenville, SC |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/17/2017* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | (2 O) No. 7 | (15 O) Troy First Round | W 110–69 | 30–4 | Humphrey Coliseum (5,572) Starkville, MS |
| 03/19/2017* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | (2 O) No. 7 | (7 O) No. 19 DePaul Second Round | W 92–71 | 31–4 | Humphrey Coliseum (6,035) Starkville, MS |
| 03/24/2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2 O) No. 7 | vs. (3 O) No. 11 Washington Sweet Sixteen | W 75–64 | 32–4 | Chesapeake Energy Arena Oklahoma City, OK |
| 03/26/2017* 6:30 pm, ESPN | (2 O) No. 7 | vs. (1 O) No. 5 Baylor Elite Eight | W 94–85 $^{OT}$ | 33–4 | Chesapeake Energy Arena (3,128) Oklahoma City, OK |
| 03/31/2017* 8:30 pm, ESPN2 | (2 O) No. 7 | vs. (1 B) No. 1 Connecticut Final Four | W 66–64 $^{OT}$ | 34–4 | American Airlines Center (19,202) Dallas, TX |
| 04/02/2017* 5:00 pm, ESPN | (2 O) No. 7 | vs. (1 S) No. 3 South Carolina Championship Game | L 55–67 | 34–5 | American Airlines Center (19,229) Dallas, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. O=Oklahoma City Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

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