By R.L. Bynum

After a surprising one-week absence from the AP Top 25 women’s poll, North Carolina returned at No. 20 this week after two big ACC victories and is ESPN’s Team of the Week.

It’s the fourth week in the top 20 this season for Carolina, which was No. 16 in the preseason poll.

The Tar Heels (11–4, 3–0 ACC) beat then-No. 25 Syracuse 75–51 (which fell out of the poll) on Thursday before knocking off then-No. 16 Notre Dame (which dropped to No. 18) 61–57 for UNC’s first program victory in South Bend, Ind.

Sophomore Indya Nivar led the way against the Irish with 16 points, a career-high five steals and two assists, while Lexi Donarski added 13 points, three 3-pointers, six rebounds and two steals.

UNC faces another tough road test at 6 p.m. Thursday when they face No. 21 Florida State (12–4, 3–1), which rebounded from an 88–80 Thursday loss to N.C. State by beating Clemson 78–72.

After a 63–62 loss at Virginia Tech on Sunday for its first loss, N.C. State (14–1, 2–1), fell three spots to No. 6 while the Hokies (12–2, 3–0) moved up two spots to No. 11.

The other ranked ACC team is No. 15 Louisville (13–2, 2–0; up two spots), which beat Duke 61–44.

Other teams ranked in last week’s poll to lose were:
–Utah (11–4), which dropped four spots to No. 19 after a 71–70 overtime loss to Arizona.
–Marquette (13–2), which dropped four spots to No. 23 after a 57–56 loss to St. John’s.
–Creighton (11–3), which dropped a spot to No. 22 after a 94–50 loss to UConn
–TCU (14–2), previously No. 23, which fell out of the poll after losses to Baylor and Oklahoma State.
–West Virginia (13–1), which stayed at No. 24after a 70–49 loss to Texas.

AP Top 25

Rank	Team (1st-place votes)	Record	Poll points	Previous
1	South Carolina (34)	14-0	874	1
2	UCLA (1)	14-0	841	2
3	Iowa	15-1	760	4
4	Baylor	14-0	738	6
5	Colorado	13-1	705	5
6	N.C. State	14-1	671	3
7	LSU	15-1	668	7
8	Stanford	14-1	637	8
9	Southern Cal	12-1	593	9
10	Texas	15-1	589	10
11	Virginia Tech	12-2	542	9
12	Kansas State	15-1	513	11
13	UConn	12-3	487	12
14	Indiana	13-1	428	14
15	Louisville	13-2	365	17
16	Gonzaga	14-2	319	18
17	Ohio State	11-3	270	20
18	Notre Dame	10-3	265	16
19	Utah	11-4	264	15
20	North Carolina	11-4	218	20
21	Florida State	12-4	162	22
22	Creighton	11-3	99	21
23	Marquette	13-2	96	19
24	West Virginia	13-1	70	24
25	UNLV	12-1	68	NR

Others receiving votes: Vanderbilt 38, Michigan St. 23, Oregon St. 15, Syracuse 15, TCU 11, Arizona 8, California 6, Princeton 4, Nebraska 3, Davidson 3, Maryland 2, Fairfield 2, Miami 1, Texas A&M 1, Washington 1.

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	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