The 2017–18 Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball season began with practices in October 2017, followed by the start of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November. Conference play started in late December 2017 and will conclude in March with the 2018 ACC women's basketball tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC. The regular season and tournament champions were the Louisville Cardinals.
Head coaches
Coaching changes There were no coaching changes prior to the 2017–18 season. However, after the season ended, Erik Johnson resigned as the head coach of Boston College. Also after the season concluded it was announced that Audra Smith would not be returning as coach of Clemson.
Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Record at school ACC record ACC titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsBoston College Erik Johnson Denver 6 61–92 17–63 0 0 0 0Clemson Audra Smith UAB 5 41–80 8–55 0 0 0 0Duke Joanne P. McCallie Michigan State 11 273–71 121–33 4 9 0 0Florida State Sue Semrau Wisconsin (Assistant) 21 401–233 174–134 2 13 0 0Georgia Tech MaChelle Joseph Georgia Tech (Assistant) 15 274–177 100–112 0 7 0 0Louisville Jeff Walz Maryland (Assistant) 11 263–93 113–47 0 3 2 0Miami Katie Meier Charlotte 13 231–152 89–93 1 6 0 0NC State Wes Moore Chattanooga 5 86–43 40–24 0 2 0 0North Carolina Sylvia Hatchell Francis Marion 32 718–296 285–187 7 22 3 1Notre Dame Muffet McGraw Lehigh 31 763–226 389–84 4 4 7 1Pittsburgh Suzie McConnell-Serio Duquesne 5 57–57 20–44 0 1 0 0Syracuse Quentin Hillsman Syracuse (Assistant) 11 95–39 45–29 0 4 1 0Virginia Joanne Boyle California 7 110–85 43–55 0 5 0 0Virginia Tech Kenny Brooks James Madison 2 20–14 4–12 0 0 0 0Wake Forest Jennifer Hoover High Point 6 74–87 24–58 0 0 0 0 Notes: Year at school includes 2017–18 season. Overall and ACC records are from time at current school and are through the end the 2016–17 season. NCAA Tournament appearances are from time at current school only. NCAA Final Fours and Championship include time at other schools
Preseason
Preseason watch lists Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists. LiebermanDrysdaleMillerMcClainLeslie Lexie Brown – Duke Chanette Hicks – Virginia Tech Asia Durr – Louisville Rebecca Greenwell – Duke Arike Ogunbowale – Notre Dame Shakayla Thomas – Florida State Myisha Hines-Allen – Louisville Erykah Davenport – Miami Leaonna Odom – Duke Akela Maize – NC State Erin Mathias – Florida State Chatrice White – Florida State
ACC Preseason Media Day Prior to the start of the season, the ACC hosted a media day at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the media day, the head coaches voted on the finishing order of the teams, an All-ACC team, a Preseason Player of the Year, and Newcomers to watch. The media day was hosted on October 19, 2017. A selected group of student athletes also took questions from the media on this day.
ACC preseason polls At ACC Media Day, the ACC Head Coaches voted on a final finishing order for all ACC teams, as well as a Blue Ribbon Panel. The results are shown below.
Head Coaches Poll First place votes shown in parentheses.
Notre Dame (8) – 212 Louisville (1) – 205 Duke (3) – 200 Florida State (3) – 188 Virginia – 148 Georgia Tech – 141 Syracuse – 122 Miami – 113 North Carolina – 103 NC State – 97 Wake Forest – 90 Virginia Tech – 82 Clemson – 43 Boston College – 37 Pittsburgh – 19
Blue Ribbon Panel First place votes shown in parentheses.
Notre Dame (35) – 858 Louisville (5) – 809 Duke (10) – 799 Florida State (10) – 752 Miami – 515 Virginia – 505 Syracuse – 497 NC State – 463 Georgia Tech – 456 North Carolina – 434 Virginia Tech – 334 Wake Forest – 316 Pittsburgh – 193 Clemson – 164 Boston College – 86
Preseason All-ACC Teams 2017 ACC Women's Basketball Preseason All-ACC Teams Head coaches Blue Ribbon PanelLexie Brown, R-Sr., G, Duke Rebecca Greenwell, R-Sr., G, Duke Shakayla Thomas, Sr., F, Florida State Francesca Pan, So., G, Georgia Tech Asia Durr, Jr., G, Louisville Myisha Hines-Allen, Sr., F, Louisville Paris Kea, R-Jr., G, North Carolina Arike Ogunbowale, Jr., G, Notre Dame Marina Mabrey, Jr., G, Notre Dame Elisa Penna, So., G, Wake ForestLexie Brown, R-Sr., G, Duke Rebecca Greenwell, R-Sr., G, Duke Shakayla Thomas, Sr., F, Florida State Asia Durr, Jr., G, Louisville Myisha Hines-Allen, Sr., F, Louisville Stephanie Watts, Jr., G, North Carolina Paris Kea, R-Jr., G, North Carolina Arike Ogunbowale, Jr., G, Notre Dame Marina Mabrey, Jr., G, Notre Dame Chanette Hicks, Jr., G, Virginia Tech
Preseason ACC Player of the Year 2017 ACC Women's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year Head coaches Blue Ribbon PanelAsia Durr, Jr., G, Louisville Lexie Brown, R-Sr., G, Duke
Newcomer Watchlist 2017 ACC Women's Basketball Newcomer Watchlists Head coaches Blue Ribbon PanelMikayla Boykin, Fr., G, Duke Lorela Cubaj, Fr., F, Georgia Tech Dana Evans, Fr., G, Louisville Janelle Bailey, Fr., C, North Carolina Lili Thompson, GS, G, Notre DameMikayla Boykin, Fr., G, Duke Bego Faz Davalos, R-Sr., C, Duke Dana Evans, Fr., G, Louisville Janelle Bailey, Fr., C, North Carolina Lili Thompson, GS, G, Notre Dame
Regular season
Rankings + Legend Increase in ranking Decrease in ranking Not ranked previous week First Place votes shown in ()
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Note: The Coaches Poll releases a final poll after the NCAA tournament, but the AP Poll does not release a poll at this time.
Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 16 conference games, and at least 1 against each opponent. Boston CollegeClemsonDukeFlorida StateGeorgia TechLouisvilleMiamiNorth CarolinaNC StateNotre DamePittsburghSyracuseVirginiaVirginia TechWake Forestvs. Boston College – 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0vs. Clemson 0–1 – 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0vs. Duke 0–1 0–1 – 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–2vs. Florida State 0–1 0–2 1–0 – 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–1vs. Georgia Tech 0–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 – 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1vs. Louisville 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 – 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–1vs. Miami 0–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 – 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 1–0vs. North Carolina 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 – 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1vs. NC State 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–2 – 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–2vs. Notre Dame 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 – 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1vs. Pittsburgh 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 – 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0vs. Syracuse 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–2 – 1–0 1–0 0–1vs. Virginia 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 – 0–2 0–1vs. Virginia Tech 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 2–0 – 1–0vs. Wake Forest 0–1 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 –Total 2–14 1–15 11–5 12–4 6–10 15–1 10–6 4–12 11–5 15–1 2–14 10–6 10–6 6–10 5–11
Player of the week Throughout the conference regular season, the Atlantic Coast Conference offices named a Player(s) of the week and a Rookie(s) of the week.
Week Player of the week Rookie of the week Reference November 13, 2017 Asia Durr, Louisville Mykea Grey, Miami November 20, 2017 Myisha Hines-Allen, Louisville Janelle Bailey, North Carolina November 27, 2017 Jackie Young, Notre Dame Mykea Grey (2), Miami Tiana Mangakahia, Syracuse December 4, 2017 Shakayla Thomas, Florida State Janelle Bailey (2), North Carolina December 11, 2017 Lexie Brown, Duke Digna Strautmane, Syracuse December 18, 2017 Jessica Shepard, Notre Dame Janelle Bailey (3), North Carolina December 26, 2017 Lexie Brown (2), Duke Milan Bolden-Morris, Boston College January 2, 2018 Asia Durr (2), Louisville Janelle Bailey (4), North Carolina Imani Wright, Florida State January 8, 2018 Tiana Mangakahia (2), Syracuse Milan Bolden-Morris (2), Boston College January 15, 2018 Asia Durr (3), Louisville Janelle Bailey (5), North Carolina January 22, 2018 Arike Ogunbowale, Notre Dame Amaya Finklea-Guity, Syracuse January 29, 2018 Jessica Shepard (2), Notre Dame Digna Strautmane (2), Syracuse February 5, 2018 Asia Durr (4), Louisville Digna Strautmane (3), Syracuse February 12, 2018 Taylor Emery, Virginia Tech Janelle Bailey (6), North Carolina February 19, 2018 Elisa Penna, Wake Forest Kierra Fletcher, Georgia Tech February 26, 2018 Lexie Brown (3), Duke Janelle Bailey (7), North Carolina
Postseason
ACC tournament
NCAA tournament
Seed Region School 1st Round 2nd Round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship 1 Lexington Louisville W 74–42 vs. #16 Boise State – (Louisville) W 90–72 vs. #8 Marquette – (Louisville) W 86–59 vs. #4 Stanford – (Lexington) W 76–43 vs. #6 Oregon State – ([Lexington) L 63–73 (OT) vs. #1 Mississippi State – (Columbus) 1 Spokane Notre Dame W 99–81 vs. #16 Cal State Northridge – (South Bend) W 98–72 vs. #9 Villanova – (South Bend) W 90–84 vs. #4 Texas A&M – (Spokane) W 84–74 vs. #2 Oregon – (Spokane) W 91–89 (OT) vs. #1 Connecticut – (Columbus) W 61–58 vs. #1 Mississippi State – (Columbus) 3 Albany Florida State W 91–49 vs. #14 Little Rock – (Tallahassee) L 65–86 vs. #11 Buffalo – (Tallahassee) 4 Kansas City NC State W 62–35 vs. #13 Elon – (Raleigh) W 74–60 vs. #5 Maryland – (Raleigh) L 57–71 vs. #1 Mississippi State – (Kansas City) 5 Albany Duke W 72–58 vs. #12 Belmont – (Athens) W 66–40 vs. #4 Georgia – (Athens) L 59–72 vs. #1 Connecticut – (Albany) 8 Albany Miami L 72–86 vs. #9 Quinnipiac – (Storrs) 8 Kansas City Syracuse L 57–84 vs. #9 Oklahoma State – (Starkville) 10 Albany Virginia W 68–62 vs. #7 Cal – (Columbia) L 56–66 vs. #2 South Carolina – (Columbia)W–L (%): Total:
National Invitation tournament
School 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Georgia Tech W 85–32 vs. Bethune–Cookman – (Atlanta) W 91–47 vs. UAB – (Atlanta) L 59–61 vs. Alabama – (Tuscaloosa) Virginia Tech W 56–55 vs. Navy – (Blacksburg) W 78–69 vs. George Mason – (Blacksburg) W 81–50 vs. Fordham – (Blacksburg) W 74–67 vs. Alabama – (Blacksburg) W 64–61 vs. West Virginia – (Morgantown) L 57–65 vs. Indiana – (Bloomington)W–L (%): Total:
Honors and awards
ACC Awards
2017 ACC Women's Basketball Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Player of the Year Asia Durr – LouisvilleCoach of the Year Jeff Walz – LouisvilleDefensive Player of the Year Lexie Brown – DukeFreshman of the Year Janelle Bailey – North CarolinaSixth Player of the Year Zaire O’Neil – Georgia Tech
2017 ACC Women's Basketball All-Conference Teams First Team Second Team Freshman TeamLexie Brown, R-Sr., G, Duke Shakayla Thomas, Sr., F, Florida State Imani Wright, R-Sr., G, Florida State Asia Durr, Jr., G, Louisville Myisha Hines-Allen, Sr., F, Louisville Paris Kea, R-Jr., G, North Carolina Chelsea Nelson, Sr., F, NC State Arike Ogunbowale, Jr., G, Notre Dame