By R.L. Bynum
UNC retained its spot at No. 11 in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll released Monday after easily winning twice last week.
It’s the first time that North Carolina has been in the top 11 for two consecutive weeks since last season, when it was No. 9 on Feb. 17 and No. 8 on Feb. 24. The longest previous such streak was five consecutive weeks from Nov. 21 to Dec. 19 in 2023, when UNC was as high as No. 6 and no lower than No. 8.
UNC moved up three spots to No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, which came out Thursday.
The Tar Heels (2–0), who beat N.C. Central 90–42 and Elon 71–37, face a difficult early test in the WBCA Challenge in Las Vegas when they meet No. 3 UCLA (3–0) at 9 p.m. ET. On Monday, the Bruins easily beat No. 6 Oklahoma in Sacramento, Calif., 73–59.
UNC is second in the ACC in scoring defense (39.5 per game), field-goal percentage defense (27.5%), rebounding margin (+20) and steals (14.5 per game). The Heels are third in scoring margin (+41) and turnover margin (+7), and fourth in defensive rebounding percentage (81.8%) and offensive rebounding percentage (43.8%).
Senior Indya Nivar is tied for the ACC lead in steals (10). Redshirt sophomore Ciera Toomey is second in offensive rebounds (5 per game) and third in rebounding (11.5 per game) and blocks (6), while freshman Nyla Brooks is tied for fifth in 3-pointers with five.
Three teams ahead of Carolina in the preseason poll lost during the first week of the regular season:
— Duke (1–1) fell eight spots to No. 15 after losing 58–52 in Paris to Baylor (2–0), which moved up nine spots to No. 7,
— Tennessee (2–1) dropped four spots to No. 12 after losing to N.C. State 80–77.
— The Wolfpack (1–1) slipped one spot to No. 10 after beating the Lady Vols but losing 69–68 Sunday in Charlotte to Southern Cal (2–0), which leaped 10 spots to No. 10.
N.C. State beat out UNC for the No. 10 ranking by only eight poll points.
Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 18 Notre Dame (2–0) and No. 22 Louisville (1–1).
AP Top 25
Others receiving votes: Ohio St. 27, Princeton 19, Richmond 16, West Virginia 15, Kansas St 11, Minnesota 10, South Dakota St. 6, Kansas 5, Stanford 4, Columbia 4, Nebraska 2, Fairfield 1.
| Date | Day/ month | Times/ scores | Opponent/event (current rank) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |||
| 18 | Sunday | W, 76–66 | vs. Davidson | — |
| 24 | Saturday | L, 72–68 | at No. 19 Maryland | — |
| November | Regular season | |||
| 2 | Monday | L, 91–79 | Oui-Play in Paris vs. No. 14 Oklahoma | 0–1 |
| 8 | Sunday | L, 84–39 | Ally Tipoff in Charlotte vs. No. 1 South Carolina | 0–2 |
| 11 | Wednesday | W, 109–40 | vs. N.C. Central | 1–2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at Penn in Palestra | ESPN+ |
| WBCA Showcase | Orlando | |||
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Texas Tech | ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 5 p.m. | vs. Alabama | ESPN+ |
| ——— | ||||
| 24 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Gardner-Webb | ACCNE |
| 27 | Friday | 7 p.m. | vs. Army | ACCNE |
| 29 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | vs. Brown | ACCN |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Wednesday | 7:15 | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge vs. No. 9 LSU | ESPN2 |
| 6 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Elon | ACCN |
| 9 | Wednesday | 11 a.m. | vs. Winthrop | ACCNE |
| 13 | Sunday | 6 p.m. | vs. N.C. State | ESPN |
| 17 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| 21 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Norfolk State | ACCN |
| 28 | Monday | 8 p.m. | vs. UNCW | ACCN |
| 31 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Syracuse | ACCN |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at Clemson | The CW |
| 7 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 10 | Sunday | 3 p.m. | at No. 7 Louisville | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 17 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | vs. Boston College | ACCN |
| 21 | Thursday | 8 p.m. ET | at California | ACCN |
| 24 | Sunday | 2 p.m. ET | at Stanford | ESPN, 2 or U |
| 28 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 13 Notre Dame | ESPN |
| 31 | Sunday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 5 Duke | ESPN |
| February | ||||
| 4 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ACCNE |
| 7 | Sunday | 6 p.m. | vs. Virginia Tech | ACCN |
| 14 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at SMU | ACCNE |
| 18 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Pittsburgh | ACCN |
| 21 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Florida State | The CW |
| 25 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. Virginia | ACCN |
| 28 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | at No. 5 Duke | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 3–7 | Wed.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo by Joshua Lawton
