2017–18 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The team played its home games in Lexington, Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum with three games at Rupp Arena. The team was led by Matthew Mitchell in his eleventh season as head coach. They are a member of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 6–10 in SEC play to finish in ninth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the SEC women's tournament, where they lost to Mississippi State. They missed the postseason for the first time since 2004.

2017–18 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	15–17 (6–10 SEC)
Head coach	Matthew Mitchell (11th season)
Associate head coach	Kyra Elzy
Assistant coaches	Niya Butts Lin Dunn
Home arena	Memorial Coliseum Rupp Arena
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 SEC women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Mississippi State	16	–	0		1.000			37	–	2		.949
No. 7 South Carolina †	12	–	4		.750			29	–	7		.806
No. 18 Georgia	12	–	4		.750			26	–	7		.788
No. 12 Tennessee	11	–	5		.688			25	–	8		.758
No. 17 Missouri	11	–	5		.688			24	–	8		.750
No. 14 Texas A&M	11	–	5		.688			26	–	10		.722
No. 24 LSU	11	–	5		.688			19	–	10		.655
Alabama	7	–	9		.438			20	–	14		.588
Kentucky	6	–	10		.375			15	–	17		.469
Auburn	5	–	11		.313			14	–	15		.483
Arkansas	3	–	13		.188			13	–	18		.419
Florida	3	–	13		.188			11	–	19		.367
Vanderbilt	3	–	13		.188			7	–	24		.226
Ole Miss	1	–	15		.063			12	–	19		.387
† 2018 SEC tournament winner As of April 1, 2018 Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the season 22–11, 11–5 in SEC play to finish in a tie for third place. They advanced to the semifinals of the SEC women's tournament where they lost to South Carolina. They received an at-large to the NCAA women's tournament where they defeated Belmont in the first round before losing to Ohio State in the second round.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
Evelyn Akhator	13	F	6'3"	Senior	Lagos, Nigeria	Graduated/Declared for 2017 WNBA draft
Makayla Epps	25	G	5'10''	Senior	Lebanon, Kentucky	Graduated/Declared for 2017 WNBA draft

Newcomers

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Keke McKinney F	Knoxville, TN	Fulton	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 94
Dorie Harrison F	Nashville, TN	Hillsboro	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 90
Kameron Roach G	Hopkins, SC	Lower Richland	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 90
Tatyanna Wyatt F	Columbus, GA	Columbus	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 89
Amanda Paschal G	Brooklyn, NY	Gulf Coast State College	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
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 September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2017.

Roster

2017–18 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown F 0 LaShae Halsel 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Warren Central Bowling Green, KY G 2 Paige Poffenberger 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) So Morgantown Morgantown, WV F 3 Keke McKinney 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Fulton Knoxville, TN G 4 Maci Morris 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Bell County Pineville, KY G 12 Amanda Paschal 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr Gulf Coast State College Brooklyn, NY F 14 Tatyana Wyatt 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Columbus Columbus, GA G 15 Jessica Hardin 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) RS Sr Wayne County Bellarmine Monticello, KY C 20 Dorie Harrison 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Hillsboro Nashville, TN F 21 Ogechi Anyagaligbo  6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Miami County Day Stony Brook Miami, FL G 22 Makenzie Cann 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Anderson County Cincinnati Lawrenceburg, KY G 23 Kameron Roach 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr Lower Richland Hopkins, SC G 24 Taylor Murray 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Jr Annapolis Area Christian Odenton, MD G 32 Jaida Roper 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) So Houston Memphis, TN C 45 Alyssa Rice 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sr Reynoldsburg Reynoldsburg, OH	Head coach Matthew Mitchell (Mississippi State) Assistant coach(es) Kyra Elzy (Tennessee) Niya Butts (Tennessee) Lin Dunn (UT Martin) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: September 6, 2017

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/05/2017* 7:00 pm		Southern Indiana	W 87–56		Memorial Coliseum (1,089) Lexington, KY
Non-conference regular season
11/10/2017* 7:00 pm		Sacramento State Matthew Mitchell Classic	W 101–70	1–0	Memorial Coliseum (4,313) Lexington, KY
11/12/2017* 2:00 pm		Gardner–Webb Matthew Mitchell Classic	W 72–34	2–0	Memorial Coliseum (4,256) Lexington, KY
11/16/2017* 9:00 pm	No. 25	at Montana	W 71–54	3–0	Dahlberg Arena (2,808) Missoula, MT
11/19/2017* 4:00 pm, P12N	No. 25	at Washington State	W 73–68	4–0	Beasley Coliseum (991) Pullman, WA
11/22/2017* 2:00 pm	No. 22	Morehead State Matthew Mitchell Classic	W 86–53	5–0	Memorial Coliseum (4,710) Lexington, KY
11/26/2017* 2:00 pm	No. 22	Marshall	W 69–39	6–0	Memorial Coliseum (4,276) Lexington, KY
11/30/2017* 8:00 pm, FCS	No. 20	at No. 9 Baylor Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge	L 63–90	6–1	Ferrell Center (5,356) Waco, TX
12/03/2017* 2:00 pm	No. 20	Tennessee Tech	W 82–54	7–1	Memorial Coliseum (4,561) Lexington, KY
12/05/2017* 7:00 pm	No. 20	Evansville	W 100–62	8–1	Memorial Coliseum (4,071) Lexington, KY
12/08/2017* 7:00 pm	No. 20	at Florida Gulf Coast	L 64–70	8–2	Alico Arena (2,343) Fort Myers, FL
12/10/2017* 1:00 pm	No. 20	at Miami (FL)	L 54–65	8–3	Watsco Center (868) Coral Gables, FL
12/17/2017* 3:00 pm, SECN		No. 3 Louisville The Battle for the Bluegrass	L 63–87	8–4	Memorial Coliseum (5,871) Lexington, KY
12/21/2017* Noon, SECN		No. 24 California	L 52–62	8–5	Memorial Coliseum (4,753) Lexington, KY
12/28/2017* 7:30 pm		at Middle Tennessee	L 57–62	8–6	Murphy Center (4,209) Murfreesboro, TN
SEC regular season
12/31/2017 Noon, SECN		No. 7 Tennessee Rivalry	L 49–63	8–7 (0–1)	Rupp Arena (8,921) Lexington, KY
01/04/2018 7:00 pm, SECN		at No. 22 Texas A&M	L 70–74	8–8 (0–2)	Reed Arena (3,662) College Station, TX
01/07/2018 2:00 pm		Georgia	L 42–56	8–9 (0–3)	Memorial Coliseum (5,782) Lexington, KY
01/11/2018 7:00 pm		at Florida	W 56–53	9–9 (1–3)	O'Connell Center (1,509) Gainesville, FL
01/15/2018 7:00 pm, SECN		at Vanderbilt	L 55–70	9–10 (1–4)	Memorial Gymnasium (2,215) Nashville, TN
01/21/2018 Noon, ESPNU		No. 10 South Carolina	L 64–81	9–11 (1–5)	Rupp Arena (6,521) Lexington, KY
01/25/2018 7:00 pm		Alabama	W 79–54	10–11 (2–5)	Memorial Coliseum (4,957) Lexington, KY
01/29/2018 7:00 pm, SECN		at Arkansas	W 76–65	11–11 (3–5)	Bud Walton Arena (1,313) Fayetteville, AR
02/01/2018 7:00 pm		Auburn	W 65–48	12–11 (4–5)	Memorial Coliseum (4,151) Lexington, KY
02/04/2018 Noon, SECN		LSU	L 70–72	12–12 (4–6)	Rupp Arena (4,521) Lexington, KY
02/08/2018 9:00 pm, SECN		at No. 15 Missouri	L 78–83	12–13 (4–7)	Mizzou Arena (3,430) Columbia, MO
02/11/2018 2:00 pm, ESPNU		at No. 2 Mississippi State	L 55–74	12–14 (4–8)	Humphrey Coliseum (9,520) Starkville, MS
02/15/2018 7:00 pm		Arkansas	W 78–57	13–14 (5–8)	Memorial Coliseum (5,306) Lexington, KY
02/18/2018 3:00 pm, SECN		at No. 8 South Carolina	L 63–81	13–15 (5–9)	Colonial Life Arena (14,895) Columbia, SC
02/22/2018 8:30 pm, SECN		at Ole Miss	W 79–71	14–15 (6–9)	The Pavilion at Ole Miss (1,141) Oxford, MS
02/25/2018 Noon, ESPNU		No. 2 Mississippi State	L 63–85	14–16 (6–10)	Memorial Coliseum (6,014) Lexington, KY
SEC Women's Tournament
03/01/2018 1:00 pm, SECN	(9)	vs. (8) Alabama Second Round	W 71–64	15–16	Bridgestone Arena  Nashville, TN
03/02/2018 1:00 pm, SECN	(9)	vs. (1) No. 2 Mississippi State Quarterfinals	L 58–81	15–17	Bridgestone Arena  Nashville, TN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. [1]

Rankings

Main article: 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	RV	25	22	22	20	20	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—								Not released
Coaches	RV	RV^	RV	22	23	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—

^Coaches' Poll did not release a second poll at the same time as the AP.

See also

• 2017–18 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team