The Mississippi State Bulldogs were led by sixth-year head coach Vic Schaefer . The Bulldogs opened their season by winning all 15 of their non-conference games , including three wins in the Cancún Challenge and two wins as a part of the Duel in the Desert ( played in Paradise , Nevada ) , adding a win against the No. 9 Oregon Ducks . The Bulldogs entered SEC play ranked No. 5 in the nation , and never dropped below that ranking , as they finished the regular season 30 – 0 , 16 – 0 in SEC play , including four wins over ranked conference opponents : No. 6 Tennessee , No. 15 Missouri , defending national champions No. 7 South Carolina , and No. 17 Texas A&M . The Bulldogs were seeded first in the SEC tournament , where they defeated ( 9 ) Kentucky and ( 5 ) Texas A&M en route to the championship game , where they fell to ( 2 ) South Carolina , 51 – 62 for their first loss of the season . The Bulldogs received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament , where they were seeded first in the Kansas City regional . In the tournament , Mississippi State defeated ( 16 ) Nicholls State , ( 9 ) Oklahoma State , ( 4 ) NC State , and ( 3 ) UCLA en route to the Final Four , where they beat ( 1 ) Louisville in overtime , putting their record at 37 – 1
SEC tournament
2018 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament
2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Game