By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina moved up one spot to No. 24 in the AP Top 25 women’s poll after coasting to a 96–36 win Friday over Western Carolina in the Tar Heels’ only game last week.
The Tar Heels (7–4) face Oklahoma (6–3) on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center in the second Jumpman Invitational. The Sooners have lost three of their last four, and haven’t played since losing 92–76 at home to UNLV on Dec. 9.
Carolina is No. 46 in the NET rankings and No. 41 in the Massey Ratings.
Helping UNC move up were losses suffered by the two teams directly ahead of it in last week’s poll. UNLV (9–1), previously No. 23, fell out of the poll after an 84–54 loss to Seton Hall, as did Miami, previously No. 25, after a 75–57 loss to No. 10 Baylor.
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The only other teams in last week’s poll to lose were Louisville (10–2, which fell one spot to No. 19 after an 86–62 loss to UConn) and Creighton (8–2, which dropped one spot to No. 21 after a 76–70 loss to Marquette).
Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 3 N.C. State (11–0; unchanged), No. 14 Notre Dame (8–1; unchanged), No. 15 Virginia Tech (8–2; up one spot), No. 19 Louisville (10–2; down one spot), and No. 21 Florida State (8–3; up one spot.)
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (35 1st-place votes) | 10-0 | 875 | 1 |
| 2 | UCLA | 9-0 | 837 | 2 |
| 3 | N.C. State | 11-0 | 773 | 3 |
| 4 | Iowa | 11-1 | 736 | 4 |
| 5 | Texas | 11-0 | 728 | 5 |
| 6 | Southern Cal | 8-0 | 668 | 6 |
| 7 | LSU | 11-1 | 654 | 7 |
| 8 | Colorado | 9-1 | 624 | 8 |
| 9 | Stanford | 9-1 | 589 | 9 |
| 10 | Baylor | 9-0 | 587 | 10 |
| 11 | Utah | 9-2 | 479 | 11 |
| 12 | Kansas State | 10-1 | 472 | 12 |
| 13 | Ohio State | 9-1 | 470 | 12 |
| 14 | Notre Dame | 8-1 | 447 | 14 |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 8-2 | 378 | 16 |
| 16 | Indiana | 8-1 | 371 | 15 |
| 17 | UConn | 7-3 | 369 | 17 |
| 18 | Marquette | 11-0 | 300 | 19 |
| 19 | Louisville | 10-2 | 203 | 18 |
| 20 | Gonzaga | 11-2 | 200 | 21 |
| 21 | Florida State | 8-3 | 120 | 22 |
| T-21 | Creighton | 8-2 | 120 | 20 |
| 23 | Washington | 11-0 | 83 | NR |
| 24 | North Carolina | 7-4 | 57 | 25 |
| 25 | TCU | 11-0 | 49 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Miami 45, West Virginia 37, Washington St. 29, UNLV 18, Texas A&M 13 Texas Tech 13, Mississippi St. 6, Oregon St. 5, Minnesota 4, Green Bay 4, Davidson 4, Syracuse 3, Nebraska 2, Mississippi 2, Michigan St. 1
UNC season statistics
Non-conference schedule
| Date | Day/ month | Time | Opponent/event (rank in final poll) |
|---|---|---|---|
| November | |||
| 2 | Monday | TBA | Oui-Play in Paris vs. No 12 Oklahoma |
| 8 | Sunday | TBA | Ally Tipoff in Charlotte vs. No. 2 South Carolina |
| 11 | Wednesday | TBA | vs. N.C. Central |
| 14 | Saturday | TBA | at Penn in Palestra |
| WBCA Showcase Orlando | |||
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Texas Tech |
| 21 | Saturday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Alabama |
| ——— | |||
| 24 | Tuesday | TBA | vs. Gardner-Webb |
| 27 | Friday | TBA | vs. Army |
| 29 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Brown |
| December | |||
| 2 | Wednesday | TBA | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge vs. No. 8 LSU |
| 6 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Elon |
| 9 | Wednesday | TBA | vs. Winthrop |
| 21 | Monday | TBA | vs. Norfolk State |
| 28 | Monday | TBA | vs. UNCW |
ACC home opponents: Duke, N.C. State, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Virginia.
ACC road opponents: Duke, Stanford, California, Louisville, Clemson, Miami, Syracuse, SMU and Pittsburgh
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
