By R.L. Bynum

After a pair of narrow losses to start the ACC season extended its losing streak to three, North Carolina fell nine spots to No. 22 in largest drop in this week’s AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll.

The Tar Heels (9–4, 0–2 ACC) lost Thursday at home 78–71 to Florida State (14–2, 3–0), which earned the 27th-most poll points, and Sunday at Virginia Tech (12–2, 2–2), which fell two spots to No. 9 after losing 64–59 at Clemson on Thursday.

UNC tries to end the skid at 6 p.m. Thursday at Miami (8–6, 1–2). The Hurricanes nearly upset Notre Dame — which moved up one spot to No. 4 — at Coral Gables, Fla., Thursday before falling 66–63. The Irish (12–1, 3–0) visit UNC at 4 p.m. Sunday.

It’s the lowest ranking this season for Carolina, which has lost its first two league games for the first time since the 2020–21 season. UNC was No. 12 in the preseason poll, and peaked at No. 6 on Nov. 28 and Dec. 19 before falling to No. 13 last week after the 75–68 loss in Charlotte on Dec. 20 to Michigan.

The Wolverines (12–2) are still at No. 14 after beating Nebraska 76–59 but losing to No. 3 Ohio State 66–57.

Ranking UNC the highest at No. 11 was Mitchell Northam of WUNC, the only North Carolina-based voter. Kevin Tresolini of Delawareonline.com has the Tar Heels No. 12.

Five voters each had UNC No. 20 and No. 24. Two voters each had the Tar Heels No. 18, No. 19 and No. 22. One voter each had UNC No. 15, No. 21, No. 23 and No. 25.

Six voters, including broadcaster Debbie Antonelli, didn’t rank Carolina.

The ACC has five ranked teams, with Duke (13–1, 3–0) debuting at No. 19 after winning at N.C. State 72–58 Thursday and topping Louisville 63–56 on Sunday. The Wolfpack (12–2, 2–1) fell four spots to No. 10 after rebounding to win Sunday at Syracuse 56–54.

Notre Dame, which beat Boston College 84–48 on Sunday, moved up in the poll thanks to Indiana (a 87–63 winner on Dec. 1 over Carolina), losing at Michigan State 83–78 and beating Nebraska at home in overtime 74–62. The Hoosiers (13-1) fell two spots to No. 6.

AP Top 25

Rank	Team	Change	Poll points (first-place votes)
1	South Carolina (13-0)	—	700 (28)
2	Stanford (14-1)	—	672
3	Ohio State (15-0)	—	643
4	Notre Dame (12-1)	+1	614
5	UConn (11-2)	+3	567
6	Indiana (13-1)	-2	540
7	LSU (14-0)	+2	537
8	Utah (14-0)	+3	499
9	Virginia Tech (12-2)	-2	440
10	N.C. State (12-2)	-4	438
11	Iowa State (9-2)	+4	402
12	UCLA (13-2)	-2	367
13	Maryland (11-3)	+3	344
14	Michigan (12-2)	—	339
15	Arizona (12-1)	+3	325
16	Iowa (11-4)	-4	244
17	Oklahoma (11-1)	+3	216
18	Oregon (11-3)	-1	183
19	Duke (13-1)	—	177
20	Gonzaga (14-2)	-1	176
21	Kansas (11-1)	+1	144
22	North Carolina (9-4)	-9	127
23	Baylor (10-3)	—	110
24	St. John’s (13-0)	+1	105
25	Creighton (9-4)	4	48

Others receiving votes: Illinois 32, Florida State 29, Arkansas 24, Villanova 20, Middle Tennessee 12, Texas 9, Columbia 7, South Florida 7, Tennessee 2, Nebraska 1

UNC statistics

Date	Month/day	Time/score	Opponent/event (current ranking)	Location	Record
	November
9	Wednesday	W, 91–59	Jackson State	Home	1–0
12	Saturday	W, 75–48	TCU	Home	2–0
16	Wednesday	W, 93–25	South Carolina State	Home	3–0
20	Sunday	W, 76–65	James Madison	Harrisonburg, Va.	4–0
			*Phil Knight Invitational*
24	Thursday	W, 85–79	Oregon	Portland	5–0
27	Sunday	W, 73–64	No. 17 Iowa State	Portland	6–0
	December		*ACC/Big Ten Challenge*
1	Thursday	L, 87–63	No. 2 Indiana	Bloomington, Ind.	6–1
7	Wednesday	W, 64–42	UNCW	Home	7–1
11	Sunday	W, 99–67	Wofford	Home	8–1
16	Friday	W, 89–47	USC Upstate	Home	9–1
			*Jumpman Invitational*
20	Tuesday	L, 76–68	No. 18 Michigan	Charlotte	9–2
			ACC season begins
29	Thursday	L, 78–71	Florida State	Home	9–3, 0–1 ACC
	January
1	Sunday	L, 68–65	No. 4 Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Va.	9–4, 0–2 ACC
5	Thursday	L, 62–58	Miami	Coral Gables, Fla.	9–5, 0–3 ACC
8	Sunday	W, 60–50	No. 10 Notre Dame	Home	10–5, 1–3 ACC
12	Thursday	W, 70–59	Virginia	Charlottesville, Va.	11–5, 2–3 ACC
15	Sunday	W, 56–47	N.C. State	Home	12–5, 3–3 ACC
19	Thursday	W, 61–56	No. 13 Duke	Home	13–5, 4–3 ACC
22	Sunday	W, 70–57	Georgia Tech	Home	14–5, 5–3 ACC
26	Thursday	W, 72–57	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	15–5, 6–3 ACC
29	Sunday	W, 69–58	Clemson	Clemson	16–5, 7–3 ACC
	February
2	Thursday	W, 73–62	Virginia	Home	17–5, 8–3 ACC
5	Sunday	L, 62–55	Louisville	Louisville	17–6, 8–4 ACC
9	Thursday	L, 75–67	Syracuse	Syracuse	17–7, 8–5 ACC
12	Sunday	W, 73–55	Boston College	Home	18–7, 9–5 ACC
16	Thursday	L, 77–66, OT	N.C. State	Raleigh	18–8, 9–6 ACC
19	Sunday	W, 71–58	Wake Forest	Home	19–8, 10–6 ACC
23	Thursday	L, 61–59	No. 4 Virginia Tech	Home	19–9, 10–7 ACC
26	Sunday	W, 45–41	No. 13 Duke	Durham	20–9, 10–8 ACC
	March		*ACC Tournament*
2	Thursday	W, 68–58	Clemson	Greensboro	21–9
3	Friday	L, 44–40	No. 13 Duke	Greensboro	21–10
			*NCAA tournament*
18	Saturday	W, 61–59	St. John’s	Columbus, Ohio	22–10
20	Monday	L, 71–69	No. 12 Ohio State	Columbus, Ohio	22–11