By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina and N.C. State both fell in the latest AP Top 25 women’s poll after losses last week ahead of Thursday’s big clash in Raleigh.
The short-handed Tar Heels (18–7, 9–5 ACC), who rebounded from a 75–67 Thursday loss at Syracuse to roll past Boston College 73–55 at home Sunday, slipped five spots to No. 19. The Wolfpack (17–8, 7–7) lost 71–59 Sunday at Virginia, its third defeat in the last five meetings, to fall out of the poll after being ranked No. 22 a week ago.
After averaging 14.5 points in UNC’s two games last week, redshirt freshman Kayla McPherson is the ACC rookie of the week. Sunday against BC in her first career start, she scored 22 points and four 3-pointers with six rebounds and three assists. Her honor comes two weeks after teammate Paulina Paris earned the award.
It’s the first time N.C. State, which garnered the 27th-most poll points, has been unranked since Jan. 29, 2018. Carolina is ranked the lowest since being voted No. 22 on Jan. 9.
Carolina and Florida State (20–7, 9–5) had the biggest drops in the poll at five spots. The Seminoles lost road games to Miami (86–82) and Virginia Tech (84–70) and dropped to No. 23. The latter was the fourth consecutive win for the Hokies (20–4, 10–4), who stayed at No. 11.
UNC is No. 23 in the NET rankings and No. 19 in the Massey Ratings.
Carolina just hopes its injury list is reduced for the 8 p.m. Thursday game at Reynolds Coliseum (ACC Network.)
Fifth-year guard Eva Hodgson (upper-body injury) isn’t expected back in the lineup until March, but the Tar Heels hope that junior wing Alyssa Ustby (lower-body injury), who has missed the last three games, and junior center Anya Poole (shoulder) will be back.
Poole missed the win over Boston College, reducing Coach Courtney Banghart’s roster to eight players with redshirt senior reserve guard Ariel Young still out with a knee injury.
Juniors Kennedy Todd-Williams and Deja Kelly have been big leaders for the team in the last two games as the Tar Heels have been dealing with the short roster and new lineup combinations.
“They love hoops,” Banghart said. “They just show me not to worry. They’ll play with whoever’s in. They’ll help whoever is in. They can’t practice because they are playing so many minutes, and the young guys need practice, but they’re in and out with injuries. We’re figuring it out as we go.”
League-leading Duke (22–3, 12–2) held at No. 9 after beating Boston College 68–27 and Miami 50–40. Notre Dame (20–4, 11–3) stayed at No. 10 after home wins over Pittsburgh (69–63) and Syracuse (73–64).
The three voters who ranked Carolina the highest all live in the Carolinas: Mitchell Northam of WUNC, the only North Carolina-based voter, had the Tar Heels No. 11 while ACC Network’s Kelly Gramlich and television commentator Debbie Antonelli — South Carolina residents — each had them No. 15.
Voting UNC the lowest at No. 25 was Jeff Linder of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, who dropped the Heels 11 spots from where he voted them the previous week.
Other voters had UNC No. 16 (four voters), No. 17 (4), No. 18 (4), No. 19 (3), No. 20 (4), No. 21 (3), No. 22 (1) and No. 24 (1).
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Change | Poll points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (25–0) | — | 700 (28 first-place votes) |
| 2 | Indiana (23–1) | — | 670 |
| 3 | Stanford (24–3) | +3 | 627 |
| 4 | Utah (22–2) | +3 | 574 |
| 5 | LSU (23–1) | -2 | 562 |
| 6 | UConn (22–4) | -2 | 561 |
| 7 | Iowa (20–5) | -2 | 552 |
| 8 | Maryland (21–5) | — | 513 |
| 9 | Duke (22–3) | — | 478 |
| 10 | Notre Dame (20–4) | — | 447 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech (20–4) | — | 427 |
| 12 | Michigan (20–5) | — | 386 |
| 13 | Ohio State (21–4) | — | 354 |
| 14 | Villanova (22-4) | +1 | 313 |
| 15 | Oklahoma (20–4) | +1 | 288 |
| 16 | UCLA (20–6) | +2 | 256 |
| 17 | Texas (20–6) | +3 | 243 |
| 18 | Arizona (19–6) | -1 | 215 |
| 19 | North Carolina (18–7) | -5 | 212 |
| 20 | Gonzaga (23–3) | +3 | 187 |
| 21 | Colorado (20–5) | +4 | 175 |
| 22 | Iowa State (15–7) | -1 | 58 |
| 23 | UNLV (24–2) | — | 52 |
| 24 | Florida State (20–7) | -5 | 51 |
| 25 | USC (19–6) | — | 31 |
Others receiving votes: Illinois 30, N.C. State 30, Middle Tennessee 23, South Florida 19, Oklahoma State 17, Creighton 17, Louisville 11, Rhode Island 6, Florida Gulf Coast 6, Marquette 5, Cleveland State 2, South Dakota State 1, Tennessee 1.
ACC standings
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 11 Virginia Tech | 14–4 | 23–6 |
| No. 10 N.C. State | 13–5 | 25–5 |
| No. 20 Syracuse | 13–5 | 23–6 |
| No. 14 Notre Dame | 13–5 | 23–6 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 12–6 | 23–8 |
| Florida State | 12–6 | 21–9 |
| Duke | 11–7 | 19–10 |
| North Carolina | 11–7 | 19–11 |
| Miami | 8–10 | 18–11 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–11 | 16–14 |
| Virginia | 7–11 | 15–14 |
| Boston College | 5–13 | 13–18 |
| Clemson | 5–13 | 12–18 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–16 | 8–23 |
| Wake Forest | 2–16 | 6–24 |
Sunday’s games
North Carolina 63, Duke 59
Boston College 84, Pittsburgh 58
No. 10 N.C. State 75, Wake Forest 57
No. 14 Notre Dame 74, No. 24 Louisville 58
Georgia Tech 71, Miami 66, OT
Florida State 82, Clemson 79
Virginia 80, No. 11 Virginia Tech 75
ACC tournament
Greensboro Coliseum
Wednesday-Sunday
| 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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