By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina is the highest in the final AP women’s basketball Top 25 poll in 11 seasons and No. 9 on The Athletic’s way-too-early Top 25 for next season.

The Tar Heels, who finished 29–8 and lost to No. 7 Duke (its rank didn’t change) in the Sweet 16, dropped two spots to finish No. 14, their highest in the final poll since the 2013–14 team was No. 12 after going 27–10 and losing at Stanford 74–65 in the Elite Eight.

UNC played nine games against teams in the final Top 25, including No. 1 national champion UConn.

The highest previous final ranking under Coach Courtney Banghart was No. 17 in the 2021–22 season, when UNC finished 25–7 and lost to eventual national champion South Carolina 69–61 in the Sweet 16.

This is the 17th time since 1984 that Carolina has been at least No. 14 in the final poll, with the highest rankings coming with No. 2 rankings in 2007 (34–4; lost 65–50 in a national semifinal) and 2008 (33–3; lost 56–50 to LSU in the New Orleans Regional final).

When UNC won the national championship in 1994, the final poll was conducted at the end of the regular season, and the Tar Heels were ranked No. 4.

Other ACC teams in the final poll are No. 9 N.C. State (unchanged), No. 10 Notre Dame (down 2) and No. 22 Florida State (unchanged).

UNC is one of three ACC teams in the top 10 of The Athletic’s way-too-early Top 25 for next season at No. 9. Duke is No. 5, and N.C. State is No. 10. Also on that list is Louisville at No. 19 and Notre Dame at No. 25.

Carolina is No. 14 in ESPN’s way-too-early Top 25.

Carolina loses three starters from last season: Alyssa Ustby, Maria Gakdeng and Lexi Donarski. All three have no eligibility left, which is also the case for reserve guard Grace Townsend. In addition, guard Tray Crisp has entered the transfer portal.

Coach Banghart welcomes three freshmen — five-star wings Nyla Brooks and Taliyah Henderson and four-star forward Taissa Queiroz — as well as Louisville transfer forward Nyla Harris.

Final AP Top 25

Team	Record
1. UConn (all 31 first-place votes)	37-3
2. South Carolina	35-4
3. UCLA	34-3
4. Texas	35-4
5. Southern Cal	31-4
6. TCU	34-4
7. Duke	29-8
8. LSU	31-6
9. N.C. State	28-7
10. Notre Dame	28-6
11. Oklahoma	27-8
12. Maryland	25-8
13. Kansas St.	28-8
14. North Carolina	29-8
15. Tennessee	24-10
16. Kentucky	23-8
17. Mississippi	22-11
18. Baylor	28-8
19. Ohio St.	26-7
20. Alabama	24-9
21. West Virginia	25-8
22. Florida St.	24-9
23. South Dakota St.	30-4
24. Oklahoma St.	25-7
24. Michigan	23-11

Year	No.	Players	Pos.	Height
Freshman	5	Liza Astakhova (LEE-zah uh-STAH-koh-vuh)	W	6–2
Freshman	7	Nyla Brooks	W	6–1
		Brooks brings dazzling skills, confidence to UNC
Freshman	3	Taliyah Henderson	W	6–1
		Long wait, journey for 5-star freshman Henderson after second knee surgery nearly over
Freshman	26	Taissa Queiroz	G	6–1
		Queiroz came to USA from Brazil to chase her dreams
Sophomore	17	Elina Aarnisalo (EH-lee-nah AHR-nee-sah-loh)	G	5–10
		Aarnisalo brings flash, IQ and pro experience to backcourt
Sophomore	0	Lanie Grant	G	5–9
Sophomore	34	Blanca Thomas	C	6–5
Sophomore	1	Jordan Zubich	G	5–11
RS sophomore	21	Ciera Toomey	F	6–4
RS sophomore	4	Laila Hull	W	6–1
Junior	10	Reniya Kelly	PG	5–7
Junior	15	Sydney Barker	PG	5–6
Senior	2	Nyla Harris	F	6–2
		It was hard for Harris to say ‘no’ to UNC again
Senior	24	Indya Nivar	G	5–10

Class of 2025

Player	Rating	ESPN rank	Position	Height	Hometown
Nyla Brooks	Five star	No. 13	Wing	6–2	Alexandria, Va.
Taliyah Henderson	Five star	No. 27	Wing	6–1	Vail, Ariz.
Taissa Queiroz	Four star	No. 77	Guard	6–1	Santa Rosa, Calif.
Liza Astakhova	—	—	Wing	6–1	Moscow, Russia

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	4 p.m.	vs. No. 22 Louisville	ACCN
17	Wednesday	8 p.m.	vs. UNCW	ACCN
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	Noon	vs. Stanford	ESPN or ACCN
11	Sunday	1 p.m.	at No. 18 Notre Dame	ESPN
15	Thursday	TBA	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	TBA	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