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. 17 Duke | 12–0 | 17–6 | 13 |
| No. 6 Louisville | 11–1 | 21–4 | 7 |
| Syracuse | 9–3 | 19–4 | 36 |
| N.C. State | 9–3 | 16–7 | 26 |
| No. 25 North Carolina | 8–3 | 19–5 | 21 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–4 | 18–6 | 43 |
| Virginia | 8–4 | 16–7 | 38 |
| Clemson | 7–5 | 16–8 | 40 |
| Notre Dame | 7–5 | 15–8 | 30 |
| Stanford | 5–6 | 16–8 | 37 |
| California | 5–6 | 14–10 | 52 |
| Georgia Tech | 5–7 | 10–14 | 99 |
| Miami | 4–8 | 12–11 | 51 |
| Florida State | 2–9 | 7–16 | 111 |
| Wake Forest | 3–9 | 13–11 | 120 |
| SMU | 1–10 | 8–15 | 183 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–10 | 8–16 | 258 |
| Boston College | 0–12 | 4–21 | 252 |
* — Through Thursday games
Thursday’s results
No. 25 North Carolina 53, Clemson 44
Stanford 86, Boston College 65
No. 17 Duke 59, No. 6 Louisville 58
Notre Dame 80, Virginia Tech 70
Virginia 67, Miami 56
California 63, Georgia Tech 56
Wake Forest 70, SMU 65
N.C. State 83, Florida State 55
Sunday’s games
No. 6 Louisville at Syracuse, noon, ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Virginia Tech, noon, ACC Network
California at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. ACCN Extra
No. 25 North Carolina at Wake Forest, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at No. 17 Duke, 2 p.m. The CW
Notre Dame at Virginia, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Miami at Florida State, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stanford at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Boston College at Clemson, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Thursday, Feb. 12, games
SMU at No. 25 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. 6 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
| 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. 78 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 | 2 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 12 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 15 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 20 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. 20 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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