The 2017–18 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by tenth year head coach Dawn Staley, played their home games at the Colonial Life Arena and were members of the Southeastern Conference. A'ja Wilson returned for her senior season and delivered the best individual campaign in program history to that point, averaging 22.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game. She won every major national player of the year award, including the Naismith, Wooden, and AP honors. The Gamecocks finished the season 29–7, 12–4 in SEC play to finish in a tie for second place. They defeated Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi State, winning their fourth consecutive SEC women's tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament. They defeated North Carolina A&T and Virginia in the first and second rounds, Buffalo in the sweet sixteen before losing to Connecticut in the elite eight.
Previous season South Carolina finished the season 33–4 (14–2), winning the SEC Regular season, SEC Tournament Championship, and the NCAA National Championship. Heading into the NCAA tournament South Carolina was the #1 seed in the Stockton regional, where they defeated UNC Asheville, Arizona State, Quinnipiac, and Florida State, to win the Stockton region and get to the Final Four. In the Final Four, South Carolina defeated Stanford 62–53 to advance to the Championship game. On April 2, 2017, South Carolina defeated Mississippi State to win their first national championship. A'ja Wilson won the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award.
Offseason
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Notes Alaina Coates 41 C 6'4" Senior Irmo, SC Graduated/Declared to 2017 WNBA draft Allisha Gray 10 G 6'0" RS Junior Sandersville, GA Declared to 2017 WNBA draft Kaela Davis 3 G 6'2" RS Junior Suwanee, GA Declared to 2017 WNBA draft Araion Bradshaw 12 G 5'6" Freshman Hyde Park, MA Transferred to Dayton
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous School Te'a Cooper 2 G 5'8" Sophomore Powder Springs, GA Transferred from Tennessee. Will sit out a year due to NCAA rules. Lindsey Spann 11 G 5'6" RS Senior Laurel, MD Transferred from Penn State. Eligible to play immediately since Spann graduated from Penn State University.
Recruits
Roster
Schedule
!colspan=9 style="background:#73000A; color:#FFFFFF;" | Exhibition
!colspan=9 style="background:#73000A; color:#FFFFFF;"| Regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#73000A; color:#FFFFFF;" | SEC Women's Tournament
!colspan=9 style="background:#73000A; color:#FFFFFF;" | NCAA Women's Tournament
Rankings
^Coaches' Poll did not release a second poll at the same time as the AP.
Team players drafted into the WNBA Round Pick Player WNBA club 1 1 A'ja Wilson Las Vegas Aces
References