By R.L. Bynum
After two decisive victories and extending its win streak to six, North Carolina jumped two spots in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll to No. 14.
That matches the first regular-season poll on Nov. 11 as the Tar Heels’ best season ranking. Carolina (9–1) is 16th in the NET rankings and 18th in the Massey Ratings.
UNC walloped Kentucky 72–53 to give first-year Coach Kenny Brooks his first loss with the Wildcats (7–1), who swapped spots with UNC and fell two positions to No. 16. The Tar Heels rolled to a 72–46 victory Sunday over Coppin State.
The Tar Heels have held five of their last six opponents to 46 points or fewer and are second in the country in scoring defense at 49.1 points per game. UNC has held four of its last five opponents to under 30% shooting. UNC is 11th in the country (and first in the ACC) in field-goal percentage defense (32.9%).
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After the Tar Heels host UNCG at 7 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN3/ACCNX), they open the ACC season at Carmichael Arena at 2 p.m. Sunday against unbeaten Georgia Tech (9–0), which debuted in the poll at No. 25.
The Jackets, off to their best start since the 1977–78 season, returned to the poll for the first time since Feb. 28, 2022.
Other ACC teams in the poll are:
— Notre Dame (7–2, 1–0 ACC), which jumped two spots to No. 8 after beating Texas 80–70 in overtime and routing Syracuse 93–62 in its ACC opener. The Longhorns (8–1) fell two spots to No. 6. The Irish hosts No. 2 UConn on Thursday.
— Duke (9–2, 1–0), which slid one spot to No. 9 after losing to No. 3 South Carolina 81–70 but thumping Virginia Tech 81–59 in its ACC opener.
— N.C. State (6–3), which returned to the poll at No. 23 after beating Old Dominion 86–55.
Louisville (5–3) fell out of the poll after losing to No. 11 Oklahoma 78–72 and No. 2 UConn 85–52.
Tennesee returned to the poll at No. 19, ending a school-record stretch of being left off of 22 consecutive polls.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA (24) | 9–0 | 791 | 1 |
| 2 | UConn (8) | 8–0 | 769 | 2 |
| 3 | South Carolina | 9–1 | 742 | 3 |
| 4 | LSU | 11–0 | 652 | 5 |
| 5 | Southern Cal | 8–1 | 628 | 6 |
| 6 | Texas | 8–1 | 621 | 4 |
| 7 | Maryland | 10–0 | 608 | 7 |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 7–2 | 607 | 10 |
| 9 | Duke | 9–2 | 533 | 8 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 8–1 | 517 | 11 |
| 11 | Ohio State | 8–0 | 459 | 12 |
| 12 | TCU | 9–1 | 447 | 9 |
| 13 | Kansas State | 10–1 | 427 | 13 |
| 14 | North Carolina | 9–1 | 419 | 16 |
| 15 | West Virginia | 9–1 | 376 | 15 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 7–1 | 296 | 14 |
| 17 | Michigan State | 9–0 | 193 | 24 |
| 18 | Iowa State | 8–2 | 190 | 20 |
| 19 | Tennessee | 7–0 | 179 | 19 |
| 20 | Michigan | 8–1 | 166 | 23 |
| 21 | Iowa | 8–1 | 125 | 17 |
| 22 | Ole Miss | 6–3 | 104 | 18 |
| 22 | N.C. State | 6–3 | 104 | NR |
| 24 | Nebraska | 8–1 | 99 | 25 |
| 25 | Georgia Tech | 9–0 | 92 | NR |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Alabama 73, Illinois 69, California 23, Stanford 18, Vanderbilt 15, Utah 14, Louisville 9, Richmond 8, South Dakota St. 8, Creighton 5, Oklahoma St. 4, Harvard 3, Florida St. 3, Texas Tech 3 and Baylor 1.
| 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
