By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina moved up two spots in the AP Top 25 women’s poll to No. 12 after a pair of blowout victories last week against in-state, nonconference competition, and remains the highest-ranked ACC team.
Dating back to last season, the Tar Heels (5–1) have been No. 14 or higher for 12 consecutive weeks, the longest such stretch since doing it 16 straight weeks from Feb.17, 2014, to Jan. 19, 2015.
In other metrics, UNC is No. 13 in Bart Torvik’s rankings, No. 19 in the Massey Ratings and No. 20 in Warren Nolan’s NET rankings. The first official NET rankings don’t come out until Dec. 1.
The Tar Heels rolled to an 85–50 win Thursday at N.C. A&T, then had the program’s best shooting game in 40 years (66.1%) in a 94–48 home stomping of UNCG on Sunday.
Carolina heads to Mexico this week for the Cancun Challenge, where it will face South Dakota State (5–0) at 11 a.m. Thursday, Kansas State (4–3) at 11 a.m. Friday and Columbia (2–2 entering Monday’s home game against Binghamton) at 1:30 Saturday.
Other ACC teams in the poll are:
—No. 19 Notre Dame (4–1), which moved up five spots after beating Southern Cal (3–2) 61–59 on a late Hannah Hidalgo jump shot.
—No. 25 N.C. State (3–3), which fell nine spots, the most of any team, after beating Coastal Carolina 71–58 but losing to unranked Rhode Island at home 68–63. Just like last week, the Wolfpack is the only ranked team without a winning record after being ranked No. 9 in the preseason poll.
—No. 23 Louisville (4–2), which slipped two spots after beating Morehead State 96–49 but losing at home 72–62 to Teonni Key’s Kentucky team, which moved up four spots to No. 16.
Duke (3–3) remained unranked and didn’t get any votes after losing 85–72 at South Florida for its second loss in three games. The Blue Devils, who were No. 7 in the preseason poll, only lost eight games all of last season and didn’t get their third loss until Dec. 21.
Three teams ahead of UNC in last week’s poll lost:
—Michigan (5–1) stayed at No. 6 after losing 72–69 to No. 1 UConn, then beating Syracuse 81–55.
—Baylor (5–1) dropped eight slots to No. 15 after losing to Iowa 57–52 and needing overtime to beat Davidson 74–72.
—Southern Cal (3–2) fell seven spots to No. 18 after beating Portland 78–51 but losing 61–59 to Notre Dame.
AP Top 25
| Rank | School (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn (30) | 6–0 | 797 | 1 |
| 2 | S. Carolina (1) | 6–0 | 758 | 2 |
| 3 | UCLA (1) | 6–0 | 746 | 3 |
| 4 | Texas | 5-–0 | 701 | 4 |
| 5 | LSU | 6–0 | 659 | 5 |
| 6 | Michigan | 5–1 | 627 | 6 |
| 7 | Maryland | 7–0 | 565 | 9 |
| 8 | TCU | 6–0 | 563 | 10 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 5–1 | 561 | 8 |
| 10 | Iowa State | 7–0 | 475 | 12 |
| 11 | Iowa | 6–0 | 423 | 19 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 5–1 | 420 | 14 |
| 13 | Ole Miss | 4–0 | 379 | 13 |
| 14 | Tennessee | 5–1 | 374 | 15 |
| 15 | Baylor | 5–1 | 354 | 7 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 7–0 | 322 | 20 |
| 17 | Vanderbilt | 6–0 | 298 | 17 |
| 18 | USC | 3–2 | 284 | 11 |
| 19 | Notre Dame | 4–1 | 256 | 24 |
| 20 | Michigan State | 6–0 | 210 | 22 |
| 21 | West Virginia | 5–0 | 175 | 23 |
| 22 | Washington | 5–0 | 137 | 25 |
| 23 | Louisville | 4–2 | 89 | 21 |
| 24 | Oklahoma State | 5-1 | 71 | 18 |
| 25 | N.C. State | 3–3 | 43 | 16 |
Others receiving votes: Stanford 36, South Dakota St. 24, Ohio St. 15, Richmond 10, Nebraska 10, Texas Tech 5, Princeton 4, South Dakota 3, Oregon 2, Kansas 2, Fairfield 2.
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 10 Louisville | 4–0 | 14–3 | 12 |
| Virginia | 4–0 | 12–3 | 37 |
| N.C. State | 4–0 | 11–4 | 25 |
| Duke | 4–0 | 9–6 | 19 |
| Syracuse | 3–1 | 13–2 | 41 |
| Stanford | 2–1 | 13–3 | 33 |
| No. 22 North Carolina | 2–2 | 13–4 | 18 |
| Wake Forest | 2–2 | 12–4 | 118 |
| Notre Dame | 2–2 | 10–4 | 27 |
| Clemson | 2–2 | 11–5 | 40 |
| Miami | 2–2 | 10–5 | 45 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–2 | 7–9 | 95 |
| Virginia Tech | 1–3 | 11–5 | 55 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–3 | 8–9 | 243 |
| California | 0–3 | 9–7 | 60 |
| SMU | 0–4 | 7–9 | 142 |
| Florida State | 0–4 | 5–11 | 109 |
| Boston College | 0–4 | 4–13 | 248 |
* — Through Sunday games
Sunday’s games
Stanford 77, No. 22 North Carolina 71, OT
Duke 82, Notre Dame 68
Virginia 91, Florida State 87, 2 OTs
Syracuse 73, Wake Forest 58
Clemson 70, Miami 55
N.C. State 71, California 60
No. 10 Louisville 85, Virginia Tech 60
Georgia Tech 67, SMU 59
Pittsburgh 64, Boston College 621
Thursday’s games
No. 10 Louisville at Miami, 3 p.m., ACCN Extra
Boston College at No. 18 Notre Dame, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Virginia Tech at Syracuse, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Duke at California, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Clemson, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Wake Forest at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Sunday’s games
Boston College at Virginia Tech, noon, ACC Network
No. 22 North Carolina at Notre Dame, 1 p.m., ESPN
Pittsburgh at No. 10 Louisville, The CW
Syracuse at Virginia, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Florida State at Miami, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Clemson at Georgia Tech, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Wake Forest at California, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Duke at Sanford, 5 p.m., ESPN
SMU at N.C. State, 6 p.m., ACC Network
| 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. 10 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, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–0 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–1 |
| 11 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at 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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