By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina has ridden a seven-game win streak into the program’s latest top-10 ranking in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll in 16 seasons.
The Tar Heels (25–4, 13–3 ACC) moved up one spot to a season-high No. 8 in the latest poll after winning 79–75 Sunday at Louisville, which was unranked but now No. 15.
This is the latest in the season that UNC has been ranked in the top 10 since it was No. 9 just over 16 years ago on Feb. 23, 2009. The Tar Heels were ranked No. 2 that season for nine consecutive weeks from Nov. 24 to Jan. 19 and finished 28–7.
It’s the Tar Heels’ highest ranking since they were No. 6 on Dec. 19, 2022, the last time they were in the top 10 in consecutive weeks. That season, UNC was ranked in the top 10 for five consecutive weeks, peaking at No. 6 on Nov. 28.
In the Friday NCAA tournament projections, ESPN’s Charlie Creme has UNC as the No. 3 seed in a Spokane regional, Her Hoops Stats has the Heels as the No. 3 seed in a Birmingham region and CBS Sports also has UNC as a No. 3 seed.
Inexplicably, UNC fell one spot to 15th in the NET rankings after Sunday’s victory. UNC is
Inexplicably, UNC fell one spot to 15th in the NET rankings after Sunday’s victory. UNC is 5–3 in Quad 1 games, 6–1 in Quad 2 games and 14–0 in all other games.
With Sunday’s win, UNC is alone in third place in the ACC, all but clinching an ACC tournament double-bye, and is the only women’s team in the country unbeaten on the road (9–0).
UNC has that latter distinction because ACC leader Notre Dame (24–3, 15–1) suffered a 104–95 double-overtime loss at N.C. State (22–5, 14–2) on Sunday for its first road defeat. That dropped the previously No. 1 Irish to No. 3 and jumped the Wolfpack four spots to No. 9.
Duke (21–7, 12–4), which hosts UNC at 7 p.m. Thursday, fell five spots to No. 16 after losing to the Irish 64–49 and Louisville 70–62 before rebounding Sunday to beat Syracuse 80–49.
Georgia Tech (21–7, 9–7) fell outof the poll after losing 83–68 to N.C. State and 73–70 to Florida State (22–6, 12–4), which returned to the poll at No. 24.
Ohio State (23–4) was the only other team ahead of UNC in last week’s poll to lose. The Buckeyes beat Iowa 86–78 in overtime and Purdue 98–46 but lost to unranked Indiana 71–61 and fell four spots to No. 12.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (1st place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas (19) | 26–2 | 756 | 2 |
| 2 | UCLA (11) | 26–1 | 736 | 3 |
| 3 | Notre Dame | 24–3 | 715 | 1 |
| 4 | Southern California | 25–2 | 702 | 4 |
| 5 | UConn | 26–3 | 649 | 5 |
| 6 | South Carolina | 25–3 | 620 | 6 |
| 7 | LSU | 27–2 | 590 | 7 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 25–4 | 529 | 9 |
| 9 | N.C. State | 22–5 | 526 | 13 |
| 10 | TCU | 26–3 | 517 | 10 |
| 11 | Tennessee | 21–6 | 418 | 15 |
| 12 | Ohio State | 23–4 | 406 | 8 |
| 13 | Oklahoma | 21–6 | 382 | 16 |
| 14 | Kansas State | 24–5 | 376 | 12 |
| 15 | Kentucky | 21–5 | 353 | 14 |
| 16 | Duke | 21–7 | 323 | 11 |
| 17 | Baylor | 24–5 | 256 | 19 |
| 18 | West Virginia | 21–6 | 225 | 17 |
| 19 | Maryland | 21–6 | 198 | 21 |
| 20 | Alabama | 22–6 | 196 | 18 |
| 21 | Oklahoma State | 22–5 | 147 | 24 |
| 22 | Creighton | 23–4 | 121 | 23 |
| 23 | Michigan State | 20–7 | 104 | 22 |
| 24 | Florida State | 22–6 | 64 | NR |
| 25 | Louisville | 19–8 | 46 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Georgia Tech 32, South Dakota St. 22, Utah 19, Illinois 14, Richmond 12, California 7, James Madison 5, Mississippi 4, Iowa 2, Harvard 2, Fairfield 1.
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Louisville | 2–0 | 11–3 | 14 |
| N.C. State | 2–0 | 8–4 | 31 |
| Syracuse | 1–0 | 10–1 | 40 |
| Stanford | 1–0 | 9–2 | 32 |
| No. 20 Notre Dame | 1–0 | 8–2 | 19 |
| Virginia | 1–0 | 8–3 | 29 |
| Duke | 1–0 | 5–6 | 38 |
| Wake Forest | 1–1 | 10–3 | 127 |
| Virginia Tech | 1–1 | 9–3 | 63 |
| Clemson | 1–1 | 8–4 | 49 |
| Miami | 1–1 | 7–4 | 48 |
| No. 18 North Carolina | 0–1 | 10–3 | 15 |
| California | 0–1 | 8–4 | 70 |
| Pittsburgh | 0–1 | 7–6 | 250 |
| SMU | 0–1 | 5–6 | 154 |
| Boston College | 0–1 | 4–9 | 207 |
| Florida State | 0–2 | 4–9 | 112 |
| Georgia Tech | 0–2 | 4–9 | 125 |
* — Through Wednesday games
Wednesday’s games
No. 18 North Carolina 84, UNCW 34
Clemson 78, Charleston Southern 52
No. 16 Louisville 76, Eastern Kentucky 51
Thursday’s results
Virginia Tech 79, Florida State 54
Miami 64, Wake Forest 61
Pittsburgh 98, Saint Francis 46
N.C. State 87, Georgia Tech 58
Duke 97, South Dakota State 54
Friday’s games
Mercyhurst at Syracuse, 10:30 a.m, ACCN Extra
Northeastern at Boston College, noon, ACCN Extra
SMU at Sam Houston, 6 p.m., ESPN+
No. 22 Washington at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Saturday’s games
No. 16 Louisville at No. 17 Tennessee, 11 a.m., Fox
Winthrop at Virginia, noon, ACCN Extra
South Carolina State at Florida State, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Duke at Belmont, 3 p.m., ESPN+
Sunday’s games
Charleston Southern at No. 18 North Carolina, noon, ACC Network
Radford at Virginia Tech, noon, ACCN Extra
Kennesaw State at Miami, noon, ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Davidson, noon, CBS Sports Network
Pittsburgh at Duquesne, 1 p.m., ESPN+
North Florida at Clemson, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Bellarmine at No. 20 Notre Dame, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Southern at SMU, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Oregon vs. Stanford in San Francisco, 6 p.m., ESPN
No. 19 USC vs. California in San Francisco, 8:30, ESPN
| 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. 16 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Charleston Southern | ACCN Extra |
| 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. 20 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 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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