By R.L. Bynum
After two impressive victories last week, North Carolina still didn’t move up in the latest AP Top 25 women’s poll, holding at No. 16.
The Tar Heels (7–1), who were No. 14 in the preseason poll, started the week by blowing out Indiana 69–39 in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament championship game Monday, then pummeled winless N.C. Central 119–43 on Friday.
Next up for UNC is unbeaten Kentucky (7–0), which stayed at No. 14, in the ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge at 5 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2). The Wildcats feature Coach Kenny Brooks, guard Georgia Amoore and center Clara Strack, who were all at Virginia Tech last season, and former UNC forward Teonni Key.
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Notre Dame (5–2) fell big in the poll, dipping seven spots to No. 10 after losing 76–68 to TCU and 78–67 to Utah.
Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 8 Duke (8–1; moving up five spots after beating then-No. 8 Oklahoma 109–99 in overtime) and No. 22 Louisville (5–2; up two spots).
N.C. State (4–3) was No. 20 fell out of the poll after losing 82–65 to LSU.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA (25) | 8–0 | 792 | 1 |
| 2 | UConn (7) | 6–0 | 771 | 2 |
| 3 | South Carolina | 7–1 | 727 | 4 |
| 4 | Texas | 7–0 | 704 | 5 |
| 5 | LSU | 9–0 | 629 | 7 |
| 6 | Southern Cal | 6–1 | 619 | 6 |
| 7 | Maryland | 8–0 | 572 | 10 |
| 8 | Duke | 8–1 | 564 | 13 |
| 9 | TCU | 8–0 | 513 | 17 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 5–2 | 501 | 3 |
| 11 | Oklahoma | 6–1 | 499 | 8 |
| 12 | Ohio State | 7–0 | 443 | 11 |
| 13 | Kansas State | 7–1 | 425 | 9 |
| 14 | Kentucky | 7–0 | 405 | 14 |
| 15 | West Virginia | 8–1 | 390 | 12 |
| 16 | North Carolina | 7–1 | 351 | 16 |
| 17 | Iowa | 8–0 | 214 | 22 |
| 18 | Ole Miss | 5–2 | 211 | 18 |
| 19 | Alabama | 8–0 | 183 | 23 |
| 20 | Iowa State | 6–2 | 176 | 15 |
| 21 | Illinois | 6–1 | 129 | 19 |
| 22 | Louisville | 5–2 | 111 | 24 |
| 23 | Michigan | 7–1 | 96 | NR |
| 24 | Michigan State | 8–0 | 86 | NR |
| 25 | Nebraska | 6–1 | 68 | 25 |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: N.C. State 58, Georgia Tech 33, Stanford 28, Tennessee 16, Oregon 15, Florida St. 14, Richmond 13, Mississippi St. 11, Vanderbilt 8, Baylor 6, Utah 5, Harvard 4, South Dakota St. 4, Creighton 3 and Minnesota 3
| Date | Day/month | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ 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 | Noon | Second round in Chapel Hill: No. 17 Maryland | ESPN |
| 27 | Friday | TBA | Sweet 16 in Fort Worth, Texas (with Sunday win): vs. No. 1 UConn, or Syracuse | TBA |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
