By R.L. Bynum
Carolina slipped three spots to No. 14 in the latest AP Top 25 women’s poll after the Tar Heels — without two starters — lost 62–55 at Louisville on Sunday. It’s their 11th week ranked in the top 15 this season, the most since 16 weeks in the 2014–15 season.
The Tar Heels (17–6, 8–4 ACC) won their eighth consecutive game with Thursday’s 73–62 home win over Virginia before the Cardinals ended the streak. Fifth-year guard Eva Hodgson (upper-body injury) missed both games, and junior wing Alyssa Ustby (lower-body injury) was out for the game against Louisville.
UNC tries to rebound this week against teams in the bottom half of the ACC standings. The Heels play at Syracuse (15–9, 6–7) at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN3) before returning home at noon Sunday (ACC Network) to face Boston College (14–12, 4–9).
In the NET rankings, Carolina fell from 19 to 22, but the Tar Heels have beaten five teams ahead of them in that ranking, with four losses.
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Carolina was one of 11 teams in last week’s Top 25, including five ranked ahead of the Tar Heels, that lost at least one game.
Two were ACC teams: Notre Dame (18–4, 9–3), which fell from one spot to No. 10 after Sunday’s 57–52 home loss to Duke, and N.C. State (16–6, 6–5), which dropped seven spots to No. 22 after a 68–62 road loss to unranked Georgia Tech.
On the strength of that win over the Irish, Duke (20–3, 10–2) — which also beat Pittsburgh 53–44 — jumped seven spots to No. 9 after taking sole possession of first place in the ACC.
Virginia Tech (18–4, 8–4) moved from two spots to No. 11 after a 78–64 win over Syracuse. Florida State (20–5, 9–3) jumped four spots to No. 19 after a 72–44 rout against Wake Forest.
Teams ranked last week that lost twice were Iowa State (which sank nine spots to No. 21 after losing 78–77 to Kansas State and 76–70 to Baylor) and Middle Tennessee (which fell from No. 21 to unranked after falling 65–62 to UTEP and 58–53 to UTSA).
Ranking UNC the highest at No. 8 was Roger Cleaveland of the Waterbury Republican-American in Connecticut. Two others ranked the Tar Heels in the top 10: Mitchell Northam of WUNC, the only North Carolina-based voter, who had UNC No. 9 and Duke No. 13, and Kelly Gramlich of ACC Network, who had the Tar Heels No. 10 and the Blue Devils No. 8.
Brice Cherry of the Waco Tribune-Herald ranked UNC the lowest at No. 20.
Carolina’s placement varied quite a bit for the other voters, with the Tar Heels showing up on ballots as No. 11 (1 time), No. 12 (5 times), No. 13 (6), No. 14 (1), No. 15 (1), No. 16 (1) No. 17 (4), No. 18 (4) and No. 19 (1).
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Change | Poll points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (23–0) | — | 700 (28 first-place votes) |
| 2 | Indiana (22–1) | +2 | 649 |
| 3 | LSU (23–0) | — | 643 |
| 4 | UConn (21–3) | +1 | 611 |
| 5 | Iowa (19–4) | +1 | 569 |
| 6 | Stanford (22–3) | -4 | 568 |
| 7 | Utah (20–2) | — | 543 |
| 8 | Maryland (19–5) | — | 509 |
| 9 | Duke (20–3) | +7 | 448 |
| 10 | Notre Dame (18–4) | -1 | 429 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech (18–4) | +2 | 394 |
| 12 | Michigan (19–5) | +6 | 359 |
| 13 | Ohio State (20–4) | -3 | 337 |
| 14 | North Carolina (17–6) | -3 | 328 |
| 15 | Villanova (20–4) | +4 | 245 |
| 16 | Oklahoma (18–4) | +4 | 241 |
| 17 | Arizona (18–5) | +5 | 233 |
| 18 | UCLA (18–6) | -4 | 201 |
| 19 | Florida State (20–5) | +4 | 187 |
| 20 | Texas (18–6) | +4 | 182 |
| 21 | Iowa State (15–6) | -9 | 168 |
| 22 | N.C. State (16–6) | -7 | 164 |
| 23 | Gonzaga (22–3) | -6 | 118 |
| 24 | South Florida (22–4) | +1 | 98 |
| 25 | Colorado (18–5) | — | 81 |
Others receiving votes: Baylor 29, Illinois 18, UNLV 14, Tennessee 13, USC 8, Middle Tennessee 8, Florida Gulf Coast 2, Louisville 2, Cleveland State 1.
UNC statistics
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 10 Notre Dame | 15–3 | 24–4 |
| No. 11 Duke | 14–4 | 24–5 |
| No. 9 Virginia Tech | 14–4 | 24–4 |
| No. 23 Florida State | 12–6 | 23–8 |
| Louisville | 12–6 | 21–10 |
| No. 22 North Carolina | 11–7 | 20–9 |
| Miami | 11–7 | 18–11 |
| N.C. State | 9–9 | 19–10 |
| Syracuse | 9–9 | 18–11 |
| Clemson | 7–11 | 16–14 |
| Boston College | 5–13 | 15–16 |
| Wake Forest | 5–13 | 14–15 |
| Virginia | 4–14 | 15–14 |
| Georgia Tech | 4–14 | 13–16 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–15 | 10–19 |
Thursday’s results
No. 9 Virginia Tech 61, No. 22 North Carolina 59
No. 10 Notre Dame 76, Georgia Tech 53
No. 23 Florida State 61, Wake Forest 60
Syracuse 85, Pittsburgh 55
Louisville 71, Miami 50
Clemson 79, Virginia 69
No. 11 Duke 77, N.C. State 62
Sunday’s results
No. 22 North Carolina 45, No. 11 Duke 41
No. 10 Notre Dame 68, Louisville, noon, ESPN3
Miami 84, Virginia 75
Boston College 73, Wake Forest 63
Clemson 74, No. 23 Florida State 61
N.C. State 68, Pittsburgh at 63
No. 9 Virginia Tech 65, Georgia Tech 52
End of regular season
| 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 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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