By R.L. Bynum
After a surprising one-week absence from the AP Top 25 women’s poll, North Carolina returned at No. 20 this week after two big ACC victories and is ESPN’s Team of the Week.
It’s the fourth week in the top 20 this season for Carolina, which was No. 16 in the preseason poll.
The Tar Heels (11–4, 3–0 ACC) beat then-No. 25 Syracuse 75–51 (which fell out of the poll) on Thursday before knocking off then-No. 16 Notre Dame (which dropped to No. 18) 61–57 for UNC’s first program victory in South Bend, Ind.
Sophomore Indya Nivar led the way against the Irish with 16 points, a career-high five steals and two assists, while Lexi Donarski added 13 points, three 3-pointers, six rebounds and two steals.
UNC faces another tough road test at 6 p.m. Thursday when they face No. 21 Florida State (12–4, 3–1), which rebounded from an 88–80 Thursday loss to N.C. State by beating Clemson 78–72.
After a 63–62 loss at Virginia Tech on Sunday for its first loss, N.C. State (14–1, 2–1), fell three spots to No. 6 while the Hokies (12–2, 3–0) moved up two spots to No. 11.
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The other ranked ACC team is No. 15 Louisville (13–2, 2–0; up two spots), which beat Duke 61–44.
Other teams ranked in last week’s poll to lose were:
–Utah (11–4), which dropped four spots to No. 19 after a 71–70 overtime loss to Arizona.
–Marquette (13–2), which dropped four spots to No. 23 after a 57–56 loss to St. John’s.
–Creighton (11–3), which dropped a spot to No. 22 after a 94–50 loss to UConn
–TCU (14–2), previously No. 23, which fell out of the poll after losses to Baylor and Oklahoma State.
–West Virginia (13–1), which stayed at No. 24after a 70–49 loss to Texas.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (34) | 14-0 | 874 | 1 |
| 2 | UCLA (1) | 14-0 | 841 | 2 |
| 3 | Iowa | 15-1 | 760 | 4 |
| 4 | Baylor | 14-0 | 738 | 6 |
| 5 | Colorado | 13-1 | 705 | 5 |
| 6 | N.C. State | 14-1 | 671 | 3 |
| 7 | LSU | 15-1 | 668 | 7 |
| 8 | Stanford | 14-1 | 637 | 8 |
| 9 | Southern Cal | 12-1 | 593 | 9 |
| 10 | Texas | 15-1 | 589 | 10 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | 12-2 | 542 | 9 |
| 12 | Kansas State | 15-1 | 513 | 11 |
| 13 | UConn | 12-3 | 487 | 12 |
| 14 | Indiana | 13-1 | 428 | 14 |
| 15 | Louisville | 13-2 | 365 | 17 |
| 16 | Gonzaga | 14-2 | 319 | 18 |
| 17 | Ohio State | 11-3 | 270 | 20 |
| 18 | Notre Dame | 10-3 | 265 | 16 |
| 19 | Utah | 11-4 | 264 | 15 |
| 20 | North Carolina | 11-4 | 218 | 20 |
| 21 | Florida State | 12-4 | 162 | 22 |
| 22 | Creighton | 11-3 | 99 | 21 |
| 23 | Marquette | 13-2 | 96 | 19 |
| 24 | West Virginia | 13-1 | 70 | 24 |
| 25 | UNLV | 12-1 | 68 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Vanderbilt 38, Michigan St. 23, Oregon St. 15, Syracuse 15, TCU 11, Arizona 8, California 6, Princeton 4, Nebraska 3, Davidson 3, Maryland 2, Fairfield 2, Miami 1, Texas A&M 1, Washington 1.
| Team | League | Overall | NET* | WAB* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 13 Duke | 16–2 | 21–8 | 10 | 13 |
| No. 12 Louisville | 15–3 | 25–6 | 13 | 10 |
| No. 16 North Carolina | 14–4 | 25–6 | 19 | 14 |
| N.C. State | 13–5 | 20–9 | 23 | 27 |
| Syracuse | 12–6 | 22–7 | 40 | 31 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–6 | 22–8 | 41 | 34 |
| Notre Dame | 12–6 | 20–9 | 24 | 23 |
| Clemson | 11–7 | 20–10 | 44 | 40 |
| Virginia | 11–7 | 19–10 | 36 | 49 |
| California | 9–9 | 18–13 | 53 | 60 |
| Stanford | 8–10 | 19–12 | 42 | 56 |
| Miami | 8–10 | 16–13 | 58 | 65 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–10 | 12–17 | 76 | 109 |
| Florida State | 5–13 | 10–20 | 107 | 138 |
| Wake Forest | 4–14 | 14–16 | 121 | 134 |
| SMU | 2–16 | 9–21 | 220 | 209 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–17 | 8–23 | 262 | 238 |
| Boston College | 1–17 | 5–26 | 247 | 283 |
* — Through Sunday games
Thursday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 82, Virginia 70
No. 12 Louisville 69, Georgia Tech 50
Notre Dame 72, Syracuse 62
Miami 79, Pittsburgh 58
N.C. State 65, Wake Forest 58
No. 13 Duke 80, Florida State 52
Stanford 87, SMU 57
Clemson 70, California 63
Sunday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 74, No. 13 Duke 69
Virginia Tech 83, Virginia 82
Georgia Tech 79, Miami 49
N.C. State 93, Pittsburgh 43
Stanford 85, Clemson 50
Syracuse 90, Boston College 65
Notre Dame 65, No. 12 Louisville 62
Florida State 77, Wake Forest 74, OT
California 78, SMU 34
End of regular season
ACC tournament
Gas South Arena
Duluth, Ga.
March 4–8
| Date | Day/ month | Times/ scores | Opponent/event (current rank) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |||
| 18 | Sunday | W, 76–66 | vs. Davidson | |
| 24 | Saturday | L, 72–68 | at No. 20 Maryland | |
| November | Regular season | |||
| 2 | Monday | 2:30 ET | Oui-Play in Paris vs. No. 21 Oklahoma | ESPN2 |
| 8 | Sunday | 5:30 | Ally Tipoff in Charlotte vs. No. 1 South Carolina | ESPN |
| 11 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. N.C. Central | ACCNE |
| 14 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at Penn in Palestra | ESPN+ |
| WBCA Showcase | Orlando | |||
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Texas Tech | ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 5 p.m. | vs. Alabama | ESPN+ |
| ——— | ||||
| 24 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Gardner-Webb | ACCNE |
| 27 | Friday | 7 p.m. | vs. Army | ACCNE |
| 29 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | vs. Brown | ACCN |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Wednesday | 7:15 | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge vs. No. 9 LSU | ESPN2 |
| 6 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Elon | ACCN |
| 9 | Wednesday | 11 a.m. | vs. Winthrop | ACCNE |
| 13 | Sunday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 25 N.C. State | ESPN |
| 17 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| 21 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Norfolk State | ACCN |
| 28 | Monday | 8 p.m. | vs. UNCW | ACCN |
| 31 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Syracuse | ACCN |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at Clemson | The CW |
| 7 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 10 | Sunday | 3 p.m. | at No. 7 Louisville | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 17 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | vs. Boston College | ACCN |
| 21 | Thursday | 8 p.m. ET | at California | ACCN |
| 24 | Sunday | 2 p.m. ET | at Stanford | ESPN, 2 or U |
| 28 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 13 Notre Dame | ESPN |
| 31 | Sunday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| February | ||||
| 4 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ACCNE |
| 7 | Sunday | 6 p.m. | vs. Virginia Tech | ACCN |
| 14 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at SMU | ACCNE |
| 18 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Pittsburgh | ACCN |
| 21 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Florida State | The CW |
| 25 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. Virginia | ACCN |
| 28 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 3–7 | Wed.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
