By R.L. Bynum
Carolina fell one spot to No. 17 in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll after a narrow victory over Davidson on Sunday.
UNC (2–0), which beat Gardner-Webb 102–49 on Wednesday and escaped with a 74–70 win Sunday over upstart Davidson, is back in Carmichael Arena at 11 a.m. Wednesday to face Hampton (0–1), which lost 76–46 at Providence.
Senior guard Deja Kelly leads the Tar Heels in scoring at 16 points per game and junior Boston College transfer center Maria Gakdeng leads the ACC in field-goal percentage at 78.6%, averaging 14.4 points per game.
Nine of the top 14 teams in the preseason Top 25 lost, including the top two teams in that first poll — LSU and UConn — making South Carolina (2–0), previously No. 6, the new No. 1 team. The Gamecocks visit UNC on Nov. 30.
Iowa is No. 2 after it beat Virginia Tech 80–76 in Charlotte on Thursday.
The reigning national champion Tigers (2–1), dropped from No. 1 to No. 7 after losing 92–78 to Colorado (3–0), which jumped from No. 20 to No. 5. The Huskies (1–1) fell from No. 2 to No. 8 after losing 92–81 at N.C. State, which debuted in the poll this week at No. 14.
The reigning ACC champion Hokies (1–1) slipped a spot to No. 9 after the loss to the Hawkeyes.
Other teams losing last week were:
— Ohio State (1–1), which fell from No. 7 to No. 13 after an 83–74 loss to Southern Cal (2–0), which moved up from No. 21 to No. 10.
— Notre Dame (1–1), which fell six spots to No. 16 after it lost 100–71 to South Carolina.
—Tennessee (1–1), which dropped four spots to No. 15 after lost 92–91 to Florida State. The Seminoles (2–0) moved up from No. 18 to No. 12.
— Mississippi (1–1), which lost 80–70 to Oklahoma and fell from No. 12 to No. 23. The Sooner (3–0), who Carolina faces on Dec. 19 in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, debuted in the poll at No. 25.
— Maryland (1–1), which moved from No. 14 to No. 20 after that loss to South Carolina.
— Illinois (1–1), which was No. 23 but fell out of the poll after a 71–67 loss to Marquette.
The other ACC team in the poll is Louisville (2–0), which fell two spots to No. 19 after beating Cincinnati 77–59 and DePaul 81–74.
Ranking UNC the highest at No. 7 is Mitchell Northam of WUNC, the only North Carolina-based voter. Percy Allen of the Seattle Times voted the Tar Heels No. 9.
Two voters — Jeff Linder of the Cedar Rapids Gazette and Joe Vozzelli of The News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill., — left Carolina off their ballots.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (23) | 2-0 | 884 | 6 |
| 2 | Iowa (13) | 3-0 | 869 | 3 |
| 3 | UCLA | 3-0 | 801 | 4 |
| 4 | Utah | 2-0 | 764 | 5 |
| 5 | Colorado | 3-0 | 681 | 20 |
| 6 | Stanford | 2-0 | 673 | 15 |
| 7 | LSU | 2-1 | 670 | 1 |
| 8 | UConn | 1-1 | 625 | 2 |
| 9 | Virginia Tech | 1-1 | 601 | 8 |
| 10 | Southern California | 2-0 | 550 | 21 |
| 11 | Texas | 2-0 | 483 | 13 |
| 12 | Florida State | 2-0 | 475 | 18 |
| 13 | Ohio State | 1-1 | 454 | 7 |
| 14 | N.C. State | 2-0 | 445 | NR |
| 15 | Tennessee | 1-1 | 383 | 11 |
| 16 | Notre Dame | 1-1 | 375 | 10 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 2-0 | 346 | 16 |
| 18 | Indiana | 1-1 | 328 | 9 |
| 19 | Louisville | 2-0 | 288 | 17 |
| 20 | Maryland | 1-1 | 241 | 14 |
| 21 | Baylor | 1-0 | 215 | 19 |
| 22 | Creighton | 2-0 | 131 | 22 |
| 23 | Ole Miss | 1-1 | 101 | 12 |
| 24 | Washington State | 3-0 | 97 | 24 |
| 25 | Oklahoma | 3-0 | 94 | NR |
Also receiving votes: Mississippi St. 51, Kansas St 31, Kansas 15, Texas A&M 10, Duke 7, Marquette 4, Miami 3, UNLV 2, Illinois 1, Drake 1, Arizona 1.Point values in parentheses indicate the number of first-place votes.
Where voters ranked UNC
Alex Simon, SF Gate — 17
Alexis Cubit, Louisville Courier-Journal — 15
Andy Yamashita, Las Vegas Review Journal — 15
Brenda VanLengen, ESPN — 13
Carl Adamec. Hearst CT Media — 13
Cassandra Negley, Yahoo — 17
Christy Winters Scott NBC — 17
Cora Hall, Knoxville News Sentinel — 19
Danny Davis, Austin American-Statesman — 13
Emily Adams, The Greenville News — 20
Jeff Linder, Cedar Rapids Gazette — unranked
Joe Vozzelli, The News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill. — unranked
Kelly Gramlich, ACC Network — 17
Kent Youngblood, Minneapolis Star-Tribune — 16
Kevin Tresolini, Delawareonline.com — 19
Kim Adams, Fox Sports — 18
Lindsay Schnell, USA Today — 18
Michael Voepel, ESPN — 20
Marisa Ingemi, San Francisco Chronicle — 17
Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader — 17
Meghan McKeown, Big Ten Network — 14
Michael Katz, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal — 19
Michelle Smith, The Next — 19
Mitchell Northam, WUNC — 7
P.J. Brown, Arizona Daily Star — 14
Payton Titus, The State — 17
Percy Allen, Seattle Times — 9
Rebecca Lobo, ESPN — 13
Reed Darcey, The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La., — 17
Robert Cessna, Bryan-College Station Eagle — 21
Roger Cleaveland, Waterbury Republican-American — 17
Sabreena Merchant, The Athletic — 15
Sam McKewon, Omaha World-Herald — 15
Stefan Krajisnik, Clarion-Leader in Jackson, Miss. — 14
Stu Durando, St. Louis Post-Dispatch — 13
Zack Smith, Waco Tribune — 13
UNC season statistics
| Date | Day/month | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 3 South Carolina in Atlanta | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 90–42 | vs. N.C. Central | 1–0 |
| 6 | Thursday | W, 71–37 | vs. Elon | 2–0 |
| WBCA Challenge Las Vegas | ||||
| 13 | Thursday | L, 78–60 | vs. No. 4 UCLA | 2–1 |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 82–68 | vs. Fairfield | 3–1 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 20 | Thursday | W, 85–50 | at N.C. A&T | 4–1 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 94–48 | vs. UNCG | 5–1 |
| Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico | ||||
| 27 | Thursday | W, 83–48 | vs. South Dakota St. | 6–1 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 85–73 | vs. Kansas State | 7–1 |
| 29 | Saturday | W, 80–63 | vs. Columbia | 8–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Thursday | W, 79–64 | at No. 2 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 13 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | 8 p.m. | at Boston College | ACCN |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | Noon | vs. California | ACCN |
| 4 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Stanford | ESPN |
| 11 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 18 Notre Dame | ESPN |
| 15 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. Miami | ACCN Extra |
| 18 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at Florida State | The CW |
| 22 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| 25 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | The CW |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 6 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN2 |
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ACCN |
| 8 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 12 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 15 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at Duke | ABC |
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ACCN |
| 22 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Pittsburgh | ACCN |
| 26 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia | ACCN Extra |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Duke | ESPN |
| ACC tournament | ||||
| 4–8 | Wed.-Sun | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | ||
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 20–24 | Fri.-Mon. | First, second rounds | ||
| 27–30 | Fri.-Mon. | Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif. | ||
| April | ||||
| 3, 5 | Fri., Sun | Final Four Phoenix |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
tarheeltribune.com 