By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina moved up two spots to No. 17 in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll after a pair of convincing victories last week.
The Tar Heels (12–2, 0–1 ACC) rolled to a 77–57 victory Wednesday in Charlotte at the Jumpman Invitational over Florida and blew out Norfolk State 90–47 at Carmichael Arena on Sunday. They open ACC play at Miami (11–1, 1–0) at 4 p.m. Sunday (ACC Network).
Undefeated Georgia Tech (13–0, 1–0) jumped four spots to No. 13 after winning 72–61 against Nebraska, which fell from No. 23 to out of the poll.
Duke (10–3, 1–0) plummeted five spots in the poll to No. 14 after losing 65–56 on Saturday at South Florida).
Other teams ahead of UNC in last week’s poll that lost were:
—UConn (10–2), which fell three spots to No. 7 after losing 72–70 to Southern Cal (11–1), which jumped three spots to No. 4.
—West Virginia (10–2), which lost 65–60 to Colorado and fell four spots to No. 18.
—Michigan State (11–1), which lost to Alabama 82–67 and dropped four spots to No. 19.
Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 4 Notre Dame (10–2, 1–0; ranking unchanged), No. 21 California (13–1, 1–0; up three) and No. 22 N.C. State (9–3, 1–0; down one).
AP Top 25
Others receiving votes: Nebraska 26, Vanderbilt 19, Utah 18, Illinois 8, Oklahoma State 7, Harvard 3, Baylor 1 and Florida State 1. Dropped from rankings: Nebraska 23
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 11 Duke | 13–0 | 18–6 | 9 |
| No. 9 Louisville | 12–1 | 22–4 | 7 |
| N.C. State | 10–3 | 17–7 | 24 |
| No. 21 North Carolina | 9–3 | 20–5 | 19 |
| Syracuse | 9–4 | 19–5 | 37 |
| Virginia | 9–4 | 17–7 | 36 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–5 | 18–7 | 44 |
| Clemson | 8–5 | 17–8 | 39 |
| Notre Dame | 7–6 | 15–9 | 30 |
| California | 6–6 | 15–10 | 51 |
| Georgia Tech | 6–7 | 11–14 | 90 |
| Stanford | 5–7 | 16–9 | 42 |
| Miami | 4–9 | 12–12 | 55 |
| Florida State | 3–9 | 8–16 | 104 |
| Wake Forest | 3–10 | 13–12 | 131 |
| SMU | 1–11 | 8–16 | 191 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–11 | 8–17 | 256 |
| Boston College | 0–13 | 4–22 | 252 |
* — Through Sunday games
Sunday’s results
No. 21 North Carolina 84, Wake Forest 56
No. 9 Louisville 84, Syracuse 65
N.C. State 82, Virginia Tech 62
California 95, Pittsburgh 80
No. 11 Duke 95, SMU 36
Virginia 81, Notre Dame 70
Florida State 87, Miami 70
Georgia Tech 74, Stanford 52
Clemson 83, Boston College 59
Thursday’s games
SMU at No. 21 North Carolina, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Syracuse at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Boston College at Florida State, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Wake Forest at No. 9 Louisville, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Georgia Tech at Clemson, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia at California, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Virginia Tech at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Sunday’s games
Pittsburgh at SMU, noon, ACC Network
Miami at Boston College, noon, ACCN Extra
No. 21 North Carolina at No. 11 Duke, 1 p.m., ABC
Virginia at Stanford, 2 p.m., The CW
Clemson at Syracuse, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., ESPN
Virginia Tech at California, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Florida State at No. 6 Louisville, 6 p.m., ACC Network
| 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. 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. 4 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 9 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 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 | 6 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 15 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 11 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. No. 11 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 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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