By R.L. Bynum

After rallying for a victory over Oklahoma, North Carolina stayed at No. 24 in the latest AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll released on Monday.

The Tar Heels (8–4) pulled away from a game tied at halftime to earn a 61–52 victory over the Sooners on Tuesday in the Jumpman Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center.

Despite being sick for three days and throwing up during timeouts, senior guard Deja Kelly led UNC with 21 points and six rebounds in that game. Senior Alyssa Ustby (top photo) added 15 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

TCU (13–0) leapfroged Carolina, moving up from No. 25 to No. 23 after beating Omaha 96–56 and Mount St. Mary’s 87–34.

Washington, previously No. 23, fell out of the poll after 59–51 loss to Louisville (11–2), which stayed at No. 19.

The Oklahoma win ended the regular-season non-conference schedule for UNC, which got three of its four losses against teams ranked in the latest poll: No. 1 South Carolina (11–0), No. 11 Kansas State (12–1) and No. 15 UConn (9–3), the latter two each moving up two spots.

The Carolina team reconvenes in Chapel Hill after the Christmas break on Wednesday as the Tar Heels prepare for their ACC opener at noon Sunday against Clemson.

The Tigers (8–5, 1–0 ACC) have won two consecutive games after rolling to a 73–50 home victory Friday over East Tennessee State. Clemson won its ACC opener at home on Dec. 7, beating Duke 80–64.

Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 3 N.C. State (12–0), which beat Old Dominion 78–50; No. 13 Notre Dame (9–1; up one spot), which beat Western Michigan 84–47; No. 14 Virginia Tech (9–2; up one spot), which beat William & Mary 67–43; and No. 22 Florida State (9–3; down one spot), which knocked off Alabama State 110–45.

AP Top 25

Rank	Team	Record	Poll points	Previous
1	South Carolina (36 first-place votes)	11-0	900	1
2	UCLA	11-0	861	2
3	N.C. State	12-0	802	3
4	Iowa	12-1	758	4
5	Texas	12-0	745	5
6	Southern Cal	10-0	685	6
7	LSU	12-1	676	7
8	Colorado	10-1	650	8
9	Stanford	10-1	614	9
10	Baylor	11-0	607	10
11	Kansas State	12-1	500	12
12	Utah	10-2	497	11
13	Notre Dame	9-1	473	14
14	Virginia Tech	9-2	395	15
15	UConn	9-3	393	16
16	Indiana	10-1	382	17
17	Ohio State	10-2	380	13
18	Marquette	12-0	305	18
19	Louisville	11-2	241	19
20	Gonzaga	13-2	215	20
21	Creighton	9-2	146	22
22	Florida State	9-3	136	21
23	TCU	13-0	73	25
24	North Carolina	8-4	58	NR
25	West Virginia	11-0	49	NR

Others receiving votes: Washington 43, Miami 38, UNLV 14, Texas A&M 12, Oregon St. 11, Minnesota 8, Michigan St. 7, Mississippi St. 6, Penn St. 5, Davidson 5, Washington St 4, Green Bay 3, Mississippi 2, Syracuse 1.

UNC season statistics

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