2017–18 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team

2017–18 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
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

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.

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
Keke McKinney F	Knoxville, TN	Fulton	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
Keke McKinney F	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
Dorie Harrison F	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
Kameron Roach G	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
Tatyanna Wyatt F	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
Amanda Paschal G	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)

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

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.

References

^ 2017-18 women's basketball schedule

[1] 2017-18 women's basketball schedule

[1]

v t e Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
Venues	Memorial Coliseum (1971–2023, 2024–present) Rupp Arena (select games 2006–present, temporary 2023–24) Clive M. Beck Center (temporary 2023–24) Joe Craft Center (practice)
Rivalries	Indiana Louisville Tennessee
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25