2017–18 Mercer Bears women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Mercer Bears women's basketball team represented Mercer University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bears, led by eighth-year head coach Susie Gardner, played their home games at the Hawkins Arena as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 30–3, 14–0 in Southern Conference play win the Southern Conference regular season. They won the SoCon women's tournament for the first time in school history and earns their first automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament, where they lost to Georgia in the first round.

2017–18 Mercer Bears women's basketball
SoCon Regular Season and Tournament Champions
NCAA Women's Tournament, first round
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 25
Record	30–3 (14–0 SoCon)
Head coach	Susie Gardner (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Tiffany Morton Trelanne M. Powell Ben Wierzba
Home arena	Hawkins Arena

2017–18 Southern Conference women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 25 Mercer †	14	–	0		1.000			30	–	3		.909
East Tennessee State	11	–	3		.786			20	–	13		.606
Chattanooga	8	–	6		.571			17	–	13		.567
Furman	7	–	7		.500			18	–	14		.563
Samford	6	–	8		.429			15	–	16		.484
UNC Greensboro	6	–	8		.429			13	–	18		.419
Wofford	3	–	11		.214			10	–	20		.333
Western Carolina	1	–	13		.071			5	–	25		.167
† 2018 SoCon Tournament winner As of March 19, 2018

Roster

2017–18 Mercer Bears women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Keke Calloway 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Jr Mary Persons Forsyth, GA G 1 Sydni Means 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Sr Greater Atlanta Christian School Stone Mountain, GA G/F 2 Amanda Thompson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Hayesville Nayesville, NC C 5 Lakaitlin Wright 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Wheeler County Alamo, GA G 11 Linnea Rosendal 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr   Stockholm, Sweden G/F 12 Shannon Titus 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Northview Johns Creek, GA F 15 Ally Welch 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Jr South Forsyth Cumming, GA G 20 Shon Kitchens 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Sr Washington County Davisboro, GA F 22 Alex Williams 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Woodward Academy College Park, GA G 23 Kayla Potts 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Forest Park Rex, GA G 24 Kahlia Lawrence 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr Kendrick Columbus, GA C 32 Germani Abram 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Columbia Huntsville, AL C 34 Rachel Selph 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr Dodge County Eastman, GA	Head coach Susie Gardner (Georgia) Assistant coach(es) Tiffany Morton (UW–Whitewater) Trelanne M. Powell (Columbus State) Ben Wierzba (SIU Edwardsville) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
11/10/2017* 5:30 pm		at UCF	W 74–63	1–0	CFE Arena (3,574) Orlando, FL
11/12/2017* 2:00 pm		at Florida Atlantic	W 66–55	2–0	FAU Arena (587) Boca Raton, FL
11/16/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Georgia Southern	W 72–45	3–0	Hawkins Arena (1,172) Macon, GA
11/19/2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Georgia	L 54–72	3–1	Hawkins Arena (2,731) Macon, GA
11/24/2017* 6:00 pm		vs. Western Kentucky GSU Thanksgiving Classic	L 62–67	3–2	GSU Sports Arena (401) Atlanta, GA
11/26/2017* 5:00 pm		vs. VCU GSU Thanksgiving Classic	W 70–54	4–2	GSU Sports Arena (331) Atlanta, GA
11/30/2017* 7:00 pm		at Campbell	W 58–57	5–2	Gore Arena (876) Buies Creek, NC
12/03/2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Davidson	W 69–54	6–2	Hawkins Arena (832) Macon, GA
12/06/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		George Washington	W 61–44	7–2	Hawkins Arena (852) Macon, GA
12/10/2017* 1:00 pm		at UNC Asheville	W 67–56	8–2	Kimmel Arena (1,081) Asheville, NC
12/17/2017* 2:00 pm		Winthrop	W 93–45	9–2	Hawkins Arena (634) Macon, GA
12/19/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		South Carolina State	W 74–53	10–2	Hawkins Arena (679) Macon, GA
12/21/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Howard	W 70–44	11–2	Hawkins Arena (749) Macon, GA
12/28/2017* 2:00 pm, ACCN Extra		at North Carolina	W 97–86	12–2	Carmichael Arena (2,988) Chapel Hill, NC
12/30/2017* 4:00 pm		at Charlotte	W 90–74	13–2	Dale F. Halton Arena (863) Charlotte, NC
SoCon Regular Season
01/04/2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Wofford	W 71–46	14–2 (1–0)	Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (342) Spartanburg, SC
01/06/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Furman	W 86–64	15–2 (2–0)	Timmons Arena (527) Greenville, SC
01/13/2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Samford	W 73–59	16–2 (3–0)	Pete Hanna Center (293) Birmingham, AL
01/18/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		UNC Greensboro	W 80–57	17–2 (4–0)	Hawkins Arena (1,827) Macon, GA
01/20/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Western Carolina	W 72–50	18–2 (5–0)	Hawkins Arena (1,821) Macon, GA
01/25/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at East Tennessee State	W 85–65	19–2 (6–0)	J. Madison Brooks Gymnasium (1,022) Johnson City, TN
01/27/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Chattanooga	W 71–50	20–2 (7–0)	McKenzie Arena  Chattanooga, TN
02/01/2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3		at Furman	W 65–53	21–2 (8–0)	Hawkins Arena (1,427) Macon, GA
02/03/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Wofford	W 80–39	22–2 (9–0)	Hawkins Arena (2,327) Macon, GA
02/10/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Samford	W 48–45	23–2 (10–0)	Hawkins Arena (1,424) Macon, GA
02/15/2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3		at Western Carolina	W 53–46	24–2 (11–0)	Ramsey Center (621) Cullowhee, NC
02/17/2018 4:00 pm		at UNC Greensboro	W 57–54	25–2 (12–0)	Fleming Gymnasium (416) Greensboro, NC
02/22/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Chattanooga	W 65–56	26–2 (13–0)	Hawkins Arena (1,672) Macon, GA
02/24/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3		East Tennessee State	W 63–48	27–2 (14–0)	Hawkins Arena (1,821) Macon, GA
SoCon Tournament
03/01/2018 11:00 am, ESPN3	(1) No. 25	vs. (8) Western Carolina Quarterfinals	W 75–44	28–2	U.S. Cellular Center  Asheville, NC
03/02/2018 11:00 am, ESPN3	(1) No. 25	vs. (5) Samford Semifinals	W 81–44	29–2	U.S. Cellular Center  Asheville, NC
03/04/2018 12:00 pm, ESPN3	(1) No. 25	vs. (2) East Tennessee State Championship Game	W 68–53	30–2	U.S. Cellular Center  Asheville, NC
NCAA Women's Tournament
03/17/2018* 1:30 pm, ESPN2	(13 A) No. 25	at (4 A) No. 18 Georgia First Round	L 63–68	30–3	Stegeman Coliseum (3,457) Athens, GA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. A=Albany Region. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Regular Season Polls

Poll	Pre- Season	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Week 17	Week 18	Week 19	Final
AP										RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	25	25	N/A
Coaches		N/A										RV	RV	RV	RV	25	25	23	24	RV

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not Ranked