By R.L. Bynum

A game in Greensboro against UConn, a home game against Kentucky and the program’s first appearance in the Battle 4 Atlantis highlight a challenging UNC nonconference women’s basketball schedule released Tuesday.

Coach Courtney Banghart’s program is coming off a 20–13 season that included making the second round of the NCAA tournament. After six players transferred, she welcomes five newcomers, including two transfers.

The season starts with two home games — 11 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 4, against Charleston Southern (11–19 last season) and Thursday, Nov. 7, against UNCW (5–25) in a homecoming for former Tar Heels center Ally Zelaya. UNC then plays two games in Greensboro — at North Carolina A&T (22–12) on Tuesday, Nov. 12 and against UConn (33–6) in the Greensboro Coliseum on Friday, Nov. 15.

N.C. A&T is one of four HBCU schools UNC will face, including three MEAC schools.

In an unfortunate scheduling conflict, the UNC men’s team has a home game against American on Nov. 15, the same day as the UConn game. The times of the two games haven’t been set. The Greensboro Coliseum has shows scheduled for Nov. 16 (R&B Forever Tour) and Nov. 17 (Ana Gabriel).

The Tar Heels trail the series with UConn 8–4. This is the second part of a two-game contract for neutral-site games. Last season, UNC and UConn played in Uncasville, Conn.

On Dec. 5, UNC welcomes former Carolina forward Teonni Key and Kentucky to Carmichael Arena in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The Wildcats will be in their first season under former Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks, who has retooled their roster after a 12–20 season. Carolina leads the all-time series 5–1, including 2–0 in Chapel Hill.

At the Battle 4 Atlantis, set for Nov. 23 through 25 at Paradise Island in the Bahamas, UNC will be part of an eight-team field that includes five teams that made the NCAA tournament last season — Baylor (26–8 last season), Columbia (23–7), Indiana (26–6) and Texas A&M (19–13). Rounding out the field are Ball State (28–6), Southern Mississippi (20–14) and Villanova (22–13).

UNC hosts N.C. Central (16–15) on Nov. 29 between that tournament and the Kentucky matchup.

Carolina faces Coppin State (12–18) on Sunday, Dec. 8 and UNCG (21–11) in Chapel Hill on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. The Spartans have lost all five meetings with Carolina, which all have been played in Chapel Hill.

On Dec. 18, Carolina will face Florida (16–16) in the Jumpman Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center. UNC leads the all-time series 3–1.

The Tar Heels’ final non-conference game is Dec. 21 against Norfolk State (27–6), which won the MEAC regular-season and tournament titles title last season. The Spartans lost 79–50 at Stanford in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Duke is the only ACC team that UNC will play home and away. League teams that the Tar Heels will only face at home are Florida State, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Wake Forest, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Boston College. ACC teams UNC will only meet on the road are Cal, Stanford, SMU, Pitt, Miami, Clemson, Louisville and Syracuse.

Year	No.	Players	Pos.	Height
Freshman	5	Liza Astakhova (LEE-zah uh-STAH-koh-vuh)	W	6–2
Freshman	7	Nyla Brooks	W	6–1
		Brooks brings dazzling skills, confidence to UNC
Freshman	3	Taliyah Henderson	W	6–1
		Long wait, journey for 5-star freshman Henderson after second knee surgery nearly over
Freshman	26	Taissa Queiroz	G	6–1
		Queiroz came to USA from Brazil to chase her dreams
Sophomore	17	Elina Aarnisalo (EH-lee-nah AHR-nee-sah-loh)	G	5–10
		Aarnisalo brings flash, IQ and pro experience to backcourt
Sophomore	0	Lanie Grant	G	5–9
Sophomore	34	Blanca Thomas	C	6–5
Sophomore	1	Jordan Zubich	G	5–11
RS sophomore	21	Ciera Toomey	F	6–4
RS sophomore	4	Laila Hull	W	6–1
Junior	10	Reniya Kelly	PG	5–7
Junior	15	Sydney Barker	PG	5–6
Senior	2	Nyla Harris	F	6–2
		It was hard for Harris to say ‘no’ to UNC again
Senior	24	Indya Nivar	G	5–10

Class of 2025

Player	Rating	ESPN rank	Position	Height	Hometown
Nyla Brooks	Five star	No. 13	Wing	6–2	Alexandria, Va.
Taliyah Henderson	Five star	No. 27	Wing	6–1	Vail, Ariz.
Taissa Queiroz	Four star	No. 77	Guard	6–1	Santa Rosa, Calif.
Liza Astakhova	—	—	Wing	6–1	Moscow, Russia

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