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
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record15–17 (6–10 SEC)
Head coach
Associate head coachKyra Elzy
Assistant coaches
Home arenaMemorial Coliseum
Rupp Arena
Seasons
2017–18 SEC women's basketball standings
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

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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

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Departures

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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

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Keke McKinney
F
Knoxville, TN Fulton 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 94
Dorie Harrison
F
Nashville, TN Hillsboro 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 90
Kameron Roach
G
Hopkins, SC Lower Richland 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 90
Tatyanna Wyatt
F
Columbus, GA Columbus 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 89
Amanda Paschal
G
Brooklyn, NY Gulf Coast State College 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/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

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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
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: September 6, 2017

Schedule

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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

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516171819Final
APRV2522222020RVRVNot released
CoachesRVRV^RV2223RVRV

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

See also

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References

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