By R.L. Bynum

Before Coach Courtney Banghart arrived at Carolina in 2019, the Tar Heels hadn’t been ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll the previous four seasons, but her team on Tuesday made that preseason poll for the fourth consecutive season.

The Tar Heels, coming off the 19th Sweet 16 appearance in program history, check in at No. 11, the highest rank in the preseason poll since the 2009–10 team was No. 5.

Carolina, which was ranked as high as No. 8 last season and was No. 14 in the final poll, faces a challenging schedule that includes facing No. 2 South Carolina in an exhibition game in Atlanta on Oct. 30. During the regular season, the Tar Heels will face six ranked teams:
— No. 3 UCLA (Nov. 13 at the WBCA Challenge in Las Vegas)
— No. 4 Texas (Dec. 4 in the ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge in Austin, Texas)
— No. 7 Duke (Feb. 15 in Durham and March 1 in Chapel Hill)
— No. 9 N.C. State (Feb. 2 in Raleigh)
— No. 15 Notre Dame (Jan. 11 in South Bend, Ind.)
— No. 20 Louisville (Dec. 14 in Chapel Hill)

South Carolina comes off an appearance in the NCAA tournament championship game, while UCLA and Texas each made the Final Four, Duke made the Elite Eight and N.C. State made the Sweet 16.

Reigning national champion UConn is No. 1, garnering 27 of 31 first-place votes, with the Gamecocks getting the other four.

The Tar Heels open the season at 11 a.m. on Nov. 3 with the annual Field Trip Day game, this season against N.C. Centra.

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AP Preseason Top 25

Rank	School (1st-place votes)	Poll points
1	UConn (27)	771
2	South Carolina (4)	740
3	UCLA	705
4	Texas	672
5	LSU	647
6	Oklahoma	593
7	Duke	578
8	Tennessee	559
9	N.C. State	510
10	Maryland	461
11	North Carolina	440
12	Ole Miss	382
13	Michigan	375
14	Iowa State	363
15	Notre Dame	289
16	Baylor	280
17	TCU	263
18	Southern California	235
19	Vanderbilt	229
20	Louisville	228
21	Iowa	130
22	Oklahoma State	128
23	Michigan State	103
T24	Kentucky	93
T24	Richmond	93

Others receiving votes: Washington 79, Ohio St. 46, West Virginia 17, Princeton 17, Minnesota 15, Kansas St 15, Kansas 7, Stanford 3, South Dakota St. 3, Illinois 2, Nebraska 2, Columbia 2.

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UNC’s AP poll history since 1991

Season	Preseason	Final	High	Low	Average
2024–25	15	14	8	19	14
2023–24	16	NR	16	25	22
2022–23	12	20	6	22	14
2021–22	NR	17	16	25	21
2016–17 to 2020–21	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
2015–16	22	NR	22	22	22
2014–15	13	15	6	17	12
2013–14	12	12	6	18	12
2012–13	NR	13	11	25	16
2011–12	20	NR	14	25	21
2010–11	15	14	8	19	13
2009–10	5	NR	4	18	9
2008–09	6	11	2	11	6
2007–08	8	2	2	8	4
2006–07	2	2	2	4	2
2005–06	7	1	1	7	4
2004–05	9	4	2	12	7
2003–04	14	12	9	16	13
2002–03	13	12	6	16	11
2001–02	NR	16	16	24	19
2000–01	22	NR	22	22	22
1999–2000	9	NR	8	15	10
1998–99	10	14	5	14	9
1997–98	5	7	5	11	7
1996–97	23	4	4	23	13
1995–96	23	NR	22	25	23
1994–95	6	11	3	12	7
1993–94	9	4	3	9	5
1992–93	22	17	12	22	18
1991–92	NR	NR	21	25	24

Data courtesy of collegepollarchive.com.

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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

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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

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Date	Day/month	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
30	Thursday	L, 91–82	No. 2 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. 3 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. 8 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	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 No. 21 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. 21 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 Communications