# 2017–18 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team

The 2017–18 Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Toppers were led by fifth-year head coach Michelle Clark-Heard. They played their home games at E. A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky and were members of Conference USA (C-USA). They finished the season 24–9, 12–4 in C-USA play, to finish in second place. They won the Conference USA tournament for the second year in a row and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament where they were defeated by Oregon State in the first round.
On March 27, Michelle Clark-Heard resigned from Western Kentucky to accept the head coaching job at Cincinnati. She finished with a five-year record of 154–48.

## Previous season

The Lady Toppers finished the 2016–17 season 27–8, 16–2 in C-USA play, to win the Conference USA regular season and also won the Conference USA tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament where they were defeated by Ohio State in the first round.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 2, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | Union | W 101–58 | 1–0 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,468) Bowling Green, KY |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2017* 2:30 p.m. | | vs. No. 16 Missouri 2017 Hawkeye Challenge | W 79–76 | 1–0 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (1,015) Iowa City, IA |
| November 11, 2017* 4:30 p.m. | | at Iowa 2017 Hawkeye Challenge | L 97–104 $^{OT}$ | 1–1 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (3,649) Iowa City, IA |
| November 14, 2017* 7:00 p.m., FCS/WKYU | | No. 6 Notre Dame | L 65–78 | 1–2 | E. A. Diddle Arena (5,061) Bowling Green, KY |
| November 17, 2017* 6:00 p.m. | | at Indiana | L 71–73 | 1–3 | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (3,063) Bloomington, IN |
| November 24, 2017* 5:00 p.m. | | vs. Mercer GSU Thanksgiving Classic | W 67–62 | 2–3 | GSU Sports Arena (401) Atlanta, GA |
| November 26, 2017* 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Georgia State GSU Thanksgiving Classic | W 74–63 | 3–3 | GSU Sports Arena (412) Atlanta, GA |
| November 30, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | Evansville | W 92–54 | 4–3 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,078) Bowling Green, KY |
| December 10, 2017* 2:00 p.m. | | at Southern Illinois | W 75–49 | 5–3 | SIU Arena (700) Carbondale, IL |
| December 12, 2017* 5:30 p.m. | | Mississippi Valley State | W 87–48 | 6–3 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,063) Bowling Green, KY |
| December 16, 2017* 11:00 a.m. | | vs. Stetson West Palm Invitational | W 66–58 | 7–3 | Student Life Center (125) West Palm Beach, FL |
| December 17, 2017* 10:00 a.m. | | vs. Toledo West Palm Invitational | W 70–56 | 8–3 | Student Life Center (250) West Palm Beach, FL |
| December 21, 2017* 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Ball State | L 81–93 | 8–4 | Worthen Arena (1,435) Muncie, IN |
| December 29, 2017* 5:30 p.m. | | Lee | W 88–64 | 9–4 | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,634) Bowling Green, KY |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| January 4, 2018 7:00 p.m., FCS/WKYU | | Middle Tennessee | W 57–43 | 10–4 (1–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,811) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 6, 2018 2:00 p.m., FCS/WKYU | | Southern Miss | W 81–60 | 11–4 (2–0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,897) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 11, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | FIU | W 101–47 | 12–4 (3-0) | E. A. Diddle Arena (1,126) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 13, 2018 6:30 p.m., beIN | | at UAB | L 61–79 | 12–5 (3–1) | Bartow Arena (527) Birmingham, AL |
| January 18, 2018 11:00 a.m., FCS/WKYU | | UTSA | W 73–38 | 13–5 (4-1) | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,887) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 21, 2018 12:00 p.m. | | at Marshall | W 86–66 | 14–5 (5–1) | Cam Henderson Center (573) Huntington, WV |
| January 26, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | at North Texas | W 79–65 | 15–5 (6–1) | UNT Coliseum (1,134) Denton, TX |
| January 28, 2018 2:00 p.m. | | at Louisiana Tech | W 74–64 | 16–5 (7–1) | Thomas Assembly Center (2,134) Ruston, LA |
| February 3, 2018 2:00 p.m. | | Florida Atlantic | W 82–63 | 17–5 (8–1) | E. A. Diddle Arena (2,145) Bowling Green, KY |
| February 8, 2018 5:30 p.m., FCS/WKYU | | Old Dominion | W 62–48 | 18–5 (9–1) | E. A. Diddle Arena (3,568) Bowling Green, KY |
| February 10, 2018 2:00 p.m. | | at Rice | L 58–73 | 18–6 (9–2) | Tudor Fieldhouse (945) Houston, TX |
| February 15, 2018 6:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Middle Tennessee | W 76–60 | 19–6 (10–2) | Murphy Center (4,061) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 17, 2018 2:00 p.m. | | Marshall | W 77–50 | 20–6 (11–2) | E. A. Diddle Arena (2,205) Bowling Green, KY |
| February 23, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | Charlotte | W 83–61 | 21–6 (12–2) | E. A. Diddle Arena (2,459) Bowling Green, KY |
| March 1, 2018 6:00 p.m. | | at Southern Miss | L 63–69 | 21–7 (12–3) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,175) Hattiesburg, MS |
| March 3, 2018 2:00 p.m. | | at UTEP | L 75–80 | 21–8 (12–4) | Don Haskins Center (528) El Paso, TX |
| Conference USA women's tournament ||||||
| March 8, 2018 1:30 p.m., Stadium | (2) | vs. (10) UTSA Quarterfinals | W 78–50 | 22–8 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| March 9, 2018 8:00 p.m., Stadium | (2) | vs. (11) North Texas Semifinals | W 77–61 | 23–8 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| March 10, 2018 4:30 p.m., CBSSN | (2) | vs. (1) UAB Championship game | W 72–57 | 24–8 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| NCAA women's tournament ||||||
| March 16, 2018* 11:00 a.m., ESPN2 | (11 L) | vs. (6 L) No. 13 Oregon State First round | L 58–82 | 24–9 | Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. L=Lexington Region. All times are in Central. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

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