By R.L. Bynum
With a share of the ACC lead, North Carolina also is moving up in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll.
The Tar Heels (14–5, 6–1 ACC) jumped three spots to No. 20 in the poll released Monday afternoon after winning 73–68 at Georgia Tech on Thursday, then earning a 79–68 home win Sunday over Louisville (16–3, 5–1) for the Cardinals’ first league loss.
Louisville fell five spots to No. 18.
UNC — 30th in the NET rankings (which projects to a No. 7 seed) and 21st in the Massey Ratings — shares first place with two teams it has already beaten in their only regular-season meetings: Louisville and Syracuse (16–2, 6–1), which lost to UNC in Chapel Hill 75–51 on Jan. 4.
Carolina is one of only four schools (and the only ACC school) ranked in both the men’s and women’s poll, with the second-best average rank (No. 3 men and No. 20 women) of 11.5, behind only UConn (No. 1 men and No. 9 women) at No. 5. Baylor (No. 15 men and No. 13 women) averages at No. 14 and Creighton (No. 17 men, No. 21 women) averages at 19.
Voting the Tar Heels the highest at No. 10 was Mitchell Northam of WUNC, the only North Carolina-based voter. Three voters — Danny Davis of the Austin American-Stateman, Kelly Gramlich of ACC Network and Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune — voted the Tar Heels No. 13.
Two voters — Emily Adams of The Greenville News in South Carolina and Percy Allen of the Seattle Times — left Carolina off their ballots.
Three other ranked ACC teams lost last week:
— N.C. State (16–2, 4–2) dropped three spots to No. 7 after losing 73–59 to Miami.
— Virginia Tech (14–4, 5–2) slipped five notches to No. 19 after a 63–46 loss at Duke.
— Florida State (14–6, 5–3) plummeted eight spots to No. 23 after losing to Syracuse 79–73 and Virginia 91–87.
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The only other ACC team ranked in last week’s poll to win both games last week was Notre Dame (14–3, 5–2), which moved up four spots to No. 15 after beating Virginia 86–76 and Wake Forest 75–56.
Syracuse returned to the poll at No. 22 after the win over the Seminoles and also defeating Pittsburgh 72–59.
Four of the top six teams lost:
— Iowa (18–2) lost Sunday to Ohio State 100–92 in overtime and dropped three spots to No. 5.
— Colorado (16–2) stayed at No. 3 after losing 76–68 to UCLA (15–1), which moved up three spots to No. 2.
— Southern Cal (13–3) dropped five spots to No. 11 after losing to Utah 78–58 and Colorado 63–59.
The only other teams ranked in last week’s poll both fell out of the poll after losses. Marquette (15–3), previously No. 22, lost 66–63 to Villanova and Iowa State, previously No. 24, lost 71–63 to Texas Tech.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina (35) | 17–0 | 875 | 1 |
| 2 | UCLA | 15–1 | 833 | 5 |
| 3 | Colorado | 16–2 | 763 | 3 |
| 4 | Kansas State | 18–1 | 753 | 7 |
| 5 | Iowa | 18–2 | 729 | 2 |
| 6 | Stanford | 17–2 | 695 | 8 |
| 7 | N.C. State | 16–2 | 646 | 4 |
| 8 | UConn | 16–3 | 635 | 9 |
| 9 | LSU | 18–2 | 575 | 10 |
| 10 | Texas | 18–2 | 553 | 11 |
| 11 | Southern Cal | 13–3 | 515 | 6 |
| 12 | Ohio State | 15–3 | 493 | 18 |
| 13 | Baylor | 15–2 | 480 | 12 |
| 14 | Indiana | 16–2 | 396 | 16 |
| 15 | Notre Dame | 14–3 | 331 | 19 |
| 16 | Utah | 13–5 | 328 | 20 |
| 17 | Gonzaga | 18–2 | 320 | 17 |
| 18 | Louisville | 16–3 | 315 | 13 |
| 19 | Virginia Tech | 14–4 | 272 | 14 |
| 20 | North Carolina | 14–5 | 243 | 23 |
| 21 | Creighton | 14–3 | 169 | 21 |
| 22 | Syracuse | 16–2 | 131 | NR |
| 23 | Florida State | 14–6 | 104 | 15 |
| 24 | West Virginia | 16–2 | 78 | NR |
| 25 | Oregon State | 15–3 | 43 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Marquette 37, Princeton 21, Iowa St. 14, UNLV 12, Fairfield 8, Washington St 3, Miami 2, Green Bay 1, Richmond 1, Virginia 1.
Where voters had Carolina
Alex Simon, SF Gate — 20
Alexis Cubit, Louisville Courier-Journal — 20
Brenda VanLengen, ESPN — 19
Carl Adamec, Hearst CT Media — 19
Cassandra Negley, Yahoo — 19
Christy Winters Scott NBC — 19
Cora Hall, Knoxville News Sentinel — 19
Danny Davis, Austin American-Statesman — 13
Emily Adams, The Greenville News — left off ballot
Jeff Linder, Cedar Rapids Gazette — 19 (left UNC off ballot last week)
Joe Vozzelli, The News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill. — 19
Kelly Gramlich, ACC Network — 13
Kent Youngblood, Minneapolis Star-Tribune — 13
Kevin Tresolini, Delawareonline.com — 18
Kim Adams, Fox Sports — 18
Lindsay Schnell, USA Today — 14
Michael Voepel, ESPN — 14
Marisa Ingemi, San Francisco Chronicle — 20
Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader — 20
Meghan McKeown, Big Ten Network — 20
Michael Katz, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal — 19 (left UNC off ballot last week)
Michelle Smith, The Next — 19 (left UNC off ballot last week)
Mitchell Northam, WUNC — 10
Payton Titus, The State — 22
Percy Allen, Seattle Times — left off ballot
P.J. Brown, Arizona Daily Star — 22 (left UNC off ballot last week)
Rebecca Lobo, ESPN — 20
Reed Darcey, The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La. — 20
Robert Cessna, Bryan-College Station Eagle — 22
Roger Cleaveland, Waterbury Republican-American — 17 (left UNC off ballot last week)
Sabreena Merchant, The Athletic — 17
Sam McKewon, Omaha World-Herald — 22
Stefan Krajisnik, Clarion-Leader in Jackson, Miss. — 23
Stu Durando, St. Louis Post-Dispatch — 21 (left UNC off ballot last week)
Zack Smith, Waco Tribune — 22 (left UNC off ballot last week)
UNC season statistics
| Team | League | Overall | NET* | WAB* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 13 Duke | 16–2 | 21–8 | 10 | 13 |
| No. 12 Louisville | 15–3 | 25–6 | 13 | 10 |
| No. 16 North Carolina | 14–4 | 25–6 | 19 | 14 |
| N.C. State | 13–5 | 20–9 | 23 | 27 |
| Syracuse | 12–6 | 22–7 | 40 | 31 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–6 | 22–8 | 41 | 34 |
| Notre Dame | 12–6 | 20–9 | 24 | 23 |
| Clemson | 11–7 | 20–10 | 44 | 40 |
| Virginia | 11–7 | 19–10 | 36 | 49 |
| California | 9–9 | 18–13 | 53 | 60 |
| Stanford | 8–10 | 19–12 | 42 | 56 |
| Miami | 8–10 | 16–13 | 58 | 65 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–10 | 12–17 | 76 | 109 |
| Florida State | 5–13 | 10–20 | 107 | 138 |
| Wake Forest | 4–14 | 14–16 | 121 | 134 |
| SMU | 2–16 | 9–21 | 220 | 209 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–17 | 8–23 | 262 | 238 |
| Boston College | 1–17 | 5–26 | 247 | 283 |
* — Through Sunday games
Thursday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 82, Virginia 70
No. 12 Louisville 69, Georgia Tech 50
Notre Dame 72, Syracuse 62
Miami 79, Pittsburgh 58
N.C. State 65, Wake Forest 58
No. 13 Duke 80, Florida State 52
Stanford 87, SMU 57
Clemson 70, California 63
Sunday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 74, No. 13 Duke 69
Virginia Tech 83, Virginia 82
Georgia Tech 79, Miami 49
N.C. State 93, Pittsburgh 43
Stanford 85, Clemson 50
Syracuse 90, Boston College 65
Notre Dame 65, No. 12 Louisville 62
Florida State 77, Wake Forest 74, OT
California 78, SMU 34
End of regular season
ACC tournament
Gas South Arena
Duluth, Ga.
March 4–8
| Date | Day/month | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 4 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. 2 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. 3 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 | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–1 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–1 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–2 |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 73–50 | at No. 22 Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | vs. Miami | 14–5, 3–3 |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 82–55 | at Florida State | 15–5, 4–3 |
| 22 | Thursday | W, 54–46 | at Georgia Tech | 16–5, 5–3 |
| 25 | Sunday | W, 77–71, OT | vs. Syracuse | 17–5, 6–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 61–59 | at N.C. State | 18–5, 7–3 |
| 5 | Thursday | W, 53–44 | vs. Clemson | 19–5, 8–3 |
| 8 | Sunday | W, 84–56 | vs. Wake Forest | 20–5, 9–3 |
| 12 | Thursday | W, 94–42 | vs. SMU | 21–5, 10–3 |
| 15 | Sunday | L, 72–68 | at No. 8 Duke | 21–6, 10–4 |
| 19 | Thursday | W, 66–63, OT | at Virginia Tech | 22–6, 11–4 |
| 22 | Sunday | W, 78–50 | vs. Pittsburgh | 23–6, 12–4 |
| 26 | Thursday | W, 82–70 | at Virginia | 24–6, 13–4 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 72–69 | vs. No. 8 Duke | 25–6, 14–4 |
| ACC tournament | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 85–68 | Quarterfinal vs. Va. Tech | 26–6 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 65–57 | Semifinal vs. No. 13 Louisville | 26–7 |
| NCAA tournament Fort Worth 1 Regional | ||||
| 21 | Friday | W, 82–51 | First round in Chapel Hill: vs. Western Illinois | 27–7 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 74–66 | Second round in Chapel Hill: No. 17 Maryland | 28–7 |
| 27 | Friday | L, 63–52 | Sweet 16 in Fort Worth, Texas: vs. No. 1 UConn | 28–8 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
