By R.L. Bynum

The No. 16 Carolina women’s basketball team is scheduled to play two closed scrimmages in preparation for the Tar Heels’ Nov. 8 opener against Gardner-Webb, with one that promises to be a significant test.

The Tar Heels will play at Charlotte on Sunday, then meet UCLA next weekend in Dallas, according to sources.

The Bruins, No. 4 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, are picked to finish second in the last season of the Pac-12 Conference. UCLA went 27–10 last season, losing 59–43 to South Carolina in a Sweet 16 game in Greenville, S.C.

UCLA brought in 6–7 center Lauren Betts in the offseason as a transfer from Stanford. ESPN ranked Betts No. 4 in the 2023 transfer portal, right behind UNC’s Lexi Donarski, who transferred from Iowa State. The scrimmage will reunite Betts with former Stanford teammate Indya Nivar, who transferred to Carolina.

During the regular season, Carolina will play seven (potentially eight) games against teams ranked in the preseason poll: No. 2 UConn, No. 6 South Carolina, No. 8 Virginia Tech (twice), No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 17 Louisville, No. 18 Florida State and potentially No. 3 Iowa on the third day of the Gulf Coast Showcase.

UNC last played UCLA in the regular season on Nov. 16, 2014, beating the Bruins 84–68 in Chapel Hill.

Carolina originally was going to have a closed scrimmage before last season with South Carolina, but it got canceled because of injuries on the Tar Heels roster.

Charlotte went 12–19 last season and lost seven of its last eight games. The teams met in the regular season on Nov. 14, 2021, in Charlotte, with the Tar Heels winning 89–33. On Dec. 6, 2020, Carolina beat Charlotte 81–75 in Chapel Hill.

Division I teams can play either two exhibition games against Division II teams, two closed scrimmages against Division I teams or one of both.

The UNC No. 19 men’s team opted for the later. The Tar Heels faced No. 10 Florida Atlantic in a closed scrimmage Saturday, reportedly winning by more than 20 points, and will meet St. Augustine’s at 7:30 Friday night in an exhibition at the Smith Center.

Date	Day/month	Score	Opponent/event (current rank)	Record
	November
8	Wednesday	W, 102–49	vs. Gardner-Webb	1–0
12	Sunday	W, 74–70	vs. Davidson	2–0
15	Wednesday	W, 62–32	vs. Hampton	3–0
18	Saturday	W, 68–39	vs. Elon	4–0
			Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla.
24	Friday	W, 54–51	Vermont	5–0
25	Saturday	L, 63–56	No. 15 Kansas State	5–1
26	Sunday	L, 65–64	Florida Gulf Coast	5–2
			ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
30	Thursday	L, 65–58	vs. No. 1 South Carolina	5–3
	December
6	Wednesday	W, 81–66	vs. UNC Greensboro	6–3
			Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase in Uncasville, Conn.
10	Sunday	L, 76–64	No. 10 Connecticut	6–4
			———————
15	Friday	W, 96–36	vs. Western Carolina	7–4
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
19	Tuesday	W, 61–52	No. 18 Oklahoma	8–4
			ACC season
31	Sunday	W, 82–76	vs. Clemson	9–4, 1–0 ACC
	January
4	Thursday	W, 75–51	vs. No. 22 Syracuse	10–4, 2–0 ACC
7	Sunday	W, 61–57	at No. 9 Notre Dame	11–4, 3–0 ACC
11	Thursday	L, 70–62	at Florida State	11–5, 3–1 ACC
14	Sunday	W, 81–68	vs. Virginia	12–5, 4–1 ACC
18	Thursday	W, 73–68	at Georgia Tech	13–5, 5–1 ACC
21	Sunday	W, 79–68	vs. No. 23 Louisville	14–5, 6–1 ACC
25	Thursday	W, 66–61	vs. Miami	15–5, 7–1 ACC
28	Sunday	L, 81–66	at Virginia	15–6, 7–2 ACC
	February
1	Thursday	L, 63–59	at No. 11 N.C. State	15–7, 7–3 ACC
4	Sunday	L, 70–61, OT	vs. No. 13 Virginia Tech	15–8, 7–4 ACC
11	Sunday	L, 68–60, OT	at Duke	15–9, 7–5 ACC
15	Thursday	W, 75–62	vs. Pittsburgh	16–9, 8–5 ACC
18	Sunday	W, 58–50	at Wake Forest	17–9, 9–5 ACC
22	Thursday	W, 80–70	vs. No. 11 N.C. State	18–9, 10–5 ACC
25	Sunday	L, 74–62	at No. 13 Virginia Tech	18–10, 10–6 ACC
29	Thursday	L, 78–74	at Boston College	18–11, 10–7 ACC
	March
3	Sunday	W, 63–59	vs. Duke	19–11, 11–7 ACC
			ACC tournament Greensboro Coliseum
7	Thursday	L, 60–59	Second round: vs. Miami	19–12
			NCAA tournament Columbia, S.C.
22	Friday	W, 59–56	First round: Michigan State	20–12
24	Sunday	L, 88–41	Second round: No. 1 South Carolina	20–13

Potential UNC 2024–25 roster

Year	No.	Players	Pos.	Height
Freshman	—	Lanie Grant (5 star)	PG	5–10
Freshman	—	Blanca Thomas (5 star)	C	6–5
Freshman	—	Jordan Zubich (4 star)	G	5–11
RS Freshman	21	Ciera Toomey	F	6–4
RS Freshman	4	Laila Hull	W	6–1
Sophomore	10	Reniya Kelly	PG	5–7
Sophomore	15	Sydney Barker	PG	5–6
RS Junior	11	Kayla McPherson	PG	5–8
Junior	24	Indya Nivar	G	5–10
Senior	5	Maria Gakdeng	C	6–3
Graduate	—	Grace Townsend	G	5–5
Graduate	20	Lexi Donarski	G	6–0
Graduate	1	Alyssa Ustby	F	6–1

2023–24 UNC players to enter transfer portal

Class	Player	Date entered	Pos.	Hgt	Next school
Junior	Paulina Paris	March 26	G	5–9	Arizona
Graduate	Ali Zelaya	April 1	F	6–4	UNCW
Graduate	Anya Poole	April 1	F	6–2	TBA
RS junior	Teonni Key	April 2	F	6–4	Kentucky
Sophomore	RyLee Grays	April 5	F	6–3	TBA
Graduate	Deja Kelly	April 8	G	5–8	TBA