2017–18 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, led by 11th-year head coach Suzy Merchant, played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 19–14, 7–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for ninth place. They lost in the second round of the Big Ten women's tournament to Indiana. They received an at-large bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Cincinnati and Toledo before losing to South Dakota in the third round.

2017–18 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball
WNIT, third round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	19–14 (7–9 Big Ten)
Head coach	Suzy Merchant (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Amaka Agugua-Hamilton Maria Fantanarosa Alysiah Bond
Home arena	Breslin Center

2017–18 Big Ten women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 10 Ohio State †	13	–	3		.813			28	–	7		.800
No. 16 Maryland	12	–	4		.750			26	–	8		.765
Iowa	11	–	5		.688			24	–	8		.750
Minnesota	11	–	5		.688			24	–	9		.727
Nebraska	11	–	5		.688			21	–	11		.656
Michigan	10	–	6		.625			23	–	10		.697
Indiana	9	–	7		.563			23	–	14		.622
Purdue	9	–	7		.563			20	–	14		.588
Rutgers	7	–	9		.438			20	–	12		.625
Michigan State	7	–	9		.438			19	–	14		.576
Penn State	6	–	10		.375			16	–	16		.500
Northwestern	4	–	12		.250			12	–	20		.375
Wisconsin	2	–	14		.125			9	–	21		.300
Illinois	0	–	16		.000			9	–	21		.300
† 2018 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Spartans finished the 2016–17 season 21–12, 9–7 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for sixth place. In the Big Ten tournament, they beat Wisconsin and Michigan before losing in the semifinals to Maryland. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed where the lost in the First Round to Arizona State.

Roster

2017–18 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Shay Colley 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) RS So St. Edmund Campion Secondary South Carolina Brampton, ON F 1 Sidney Cooks 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr St. Joseph Kenosha, WI F 2 Mardrekia Cook 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) So Muskegon Muskegon, MI G 4 Taryn McCutcheon 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) So East Lansing East Lansing, MI G 5 Claire Hendrickson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Wyoming Wyoming, MI G 10 Brannadais Agee 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS Sr Cass Technical Detroit, MI F 11 Nathy Dambo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) RS So Junípero Serra Fort-de-France, Martinique F 12 Nia Hollie 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) So Hopkins Minnetonka, MN F 15 Victoria Gaines 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS So Merrillville Merrillville, IN G 22 Kiara Carter 5 ft 1 in (1.55 m) Sr Homewood Flossmoor Homewood, IL G/F 24 Lexi Gussert 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Forest Park Crystal Falls, MI F 32 Taya Reimer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) RS Sr Hamilton Southeastern Notre Dame Fishers, IN C 33 Jenna Allen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr North Lawrence Bedford, IN F 55 Kennedy Johnson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Wildwood Catholic Galloway, NJ	Head coach Suzy Merchant (Central Michigan) Assistant coach(es) Amaka Agugua-Hamilton (Hofstra) Maria Fantanarosa (Miami (OH)) Alysiah Bond (Ohio State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 24, 2017

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 05, 2017* 2:00 pm		Lake Superior State	W 111–37		Breslin Center (4,919) East Lansing, MI
Non-conference regular season
Nov 11, 2017* 4:00 pm		Robert Morris	W 100–58	1–0	Breslin Center (5,038) East Lansing, MI
Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm		Oakland	W 95–63	2–0	Breslin Center (4,362) East Lansing, MI
Nov 19, 2017* 12:00 pm		College of Charleston	W 107–43	3–0	Breslin Center (4,425) East Lansing, MI
Nov 21, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Detroit	W 97–60	4–0	Calihan Hall (817) Detroit, MI
Nov 25, 2017* 3:00 pm, SNY		vs. No. 1 Connecticut Phil Knight Invitational	L 62–96	4–1	Matthew Knight Arena (6,033) Eugene, OR
Nov 30, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Miami (FL) ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge	L 57–67	4–2	Watsco Center (1,062) Coral Gables, FL
Dec 03, 2017* 12:30 pm		Western Michigan	W 65–62	5–2	Breslin Center (6,313) East Lansing, MI
Dec 06, 2017* 7:00 pm		at No. 3 Notre Dame	L 59–90	5–3	Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) Notre Dame, IN
Dec 09, 2017* 2:00 pm		Rhode Island	W 82–38	6–3	Breslin Center (5,743) East Lansing, MI
Dec 16, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at East Tennessee State	W 83–74	7–3	J. Madison Brooks Gymnasium (1,100) Johnson City, TN
Dec 18, 2017* 9:00 pm		Quinnipiac	W 74–55	8–3	Breslin Center (4,220) East Lansing, MI
Dec 21, 2017* 8:30 pm		vs. No. 22 South Florida New Orleans Shootout	W 83–73	9–3	Convocation Center (420) New Orleans, LA
Dec 22, 2017* 6:00 pm		vs. Mississippi Valley State New Orleans Shootout	W 83–64	10–3	Convocation Center (335) New Orleans, LA
Big Ten regular season
Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm		at Indiana	W 68–46	11–3 (1–0)	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (4,303) Bloomington, IN
Dec 31, 2017 4:00 pm		Rutgers	L 58–62	11–4 (1–1)	Breslin Center (6,251) East Lansing, MI
Jan 03, 2018 7:00 pm		Northwestern	W 81–51	12–4 (2–1)	Breslin Center (6,079) East Lansing, MI
Jan 07, 2018 4:00 pm, BTN		at Minnesota	L 77–83	12–5 (2–2)	Williams Arena (3,422) Minneapolis, MN
Jan 11, 2018 8:00 pm, BTN		at No. 11 Maryland	W 82–68	13–5 (3–2)	Xfinity Center (4,052) College Park, MD
Jan 16, 2018 9:00 pm, BTN		at Illinois	W 67–55	14–5 (4–2)	State Farm Center (1,114) Champaign, IL
Jan 20, 2018 4:00 pm, BTN		Indiana	L 65–69	14–6 (4–3)	Breslin Center (11,950) East Lansing, MI
Jan 23, 2018 7:00 pm, BTN		at No. 16 Michigan	L 48–71	14–7 (4–4)	Crisler Center (3,147) Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 27, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPNU		at No. 12 Ohio State	L 62–78	14–8 (4–5)	Value City Arena (6,850) Columbus, OH
Feb 01, 2018 6:00 pm, BTN		Iowa	L 68–71	14–9 (4–6)	Breslin Center (5,047) East Lansing, MI
Feb 04, 2018 2:00 pm		at Penn State	L 59–74	14–10 (4–7)	Bryce Jordan Center (3,521) University Park, PA
Feb 08, 2018 7:00 pm, BTN		No. 10 Maryland	L 68–76	14–11 (4–8)	Breslin Center (4,988) East Lansing, MI
Feb 11, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN2		No. 21 Michigan	W 66–61	15–11 (5–8)	Breslin Center (12,434) East Lansing, MI
Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm		Nebraska	L 69–79	15–12 (5–9)	Breslin Center (4,972) East Lansing, MI
Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm		Wisconsin	W 69–61	16–12 (6–9)	Breslin Center (5,355) East Lansing, MI
Feb 24, 2018 2:00 pm, BTN		at Purdue	W 82–68	17–12 (7–9)	Mackey Arena (6,800) West Lafayette, IN
Big Ten tournament
Mar 01, 2018 6:30 pm, RSN	(10)	vs. (7) Indiana Second Round	L 109–111 4OT	17–13	Bankers Life Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
WNIT
Mar 15, 2018* 7:00 pm		Cincinnati First Round	W 81–75	18–13	Breslin Center (1,705) East Lansing, MI
Mar 19, 2018* 7:00 pm		Toledo Second Round	W 68–66	19–13	Breslin Center (2,144) East Lansing, MI
Mar 22, 2018* 8:00 pm		at South Dakota Third Round	L 83–85 OT	19–14	Sanford Coyote Sports Center (3,072) Vermillion, SD
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source.

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	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR		N/A
Coaches	RV	N/A	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	RV	NR	NR	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		No Change
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not Ranked

See also

2017–18 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team