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.
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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* | WAB* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 13 Duke | 16–2 | 21–8 | 10 | 13 |
| No. 12 Louisville | 15–3 | 25–6 | 13 | 10 |
| No. 16 North Carolina | 14–4 | 25–6 | 19 | 14 |
| N.C. State | 13–5 | 20–9 | 23 | 27 |
| Syracuse | 12–6 | 22–7 | 40 | 31 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–6 | 22–8 | 41 | 34 |
| Notre Dame | 12–6 | 20–9 | 24 | 23 |
| Clemson | 11–7 | 20–10 | 44 | 40 |
| Virginia | 11–7 | 19–10 | 36 | 49 |
| California | 9–9 | 18–13 | 53 | 60 |
| Stanford | 8–10 | 19–12 | 42 | 56 |
| Miami | 8–10 | 16–13 | 58 | 65 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–10 | 12–17 | 76 | 109 |
| Florida State | 5–13 | 10–20 | 107 | 138 |
| Wake Forest | 4–14 | 14–16 | 121 | 134 |
| SMU | 2–16 | 9–21 | 220 | 209 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–17 | 8–23 | 262 | 238 |
| Boston College | 1–17 | 5–26 | 247 | 283 |
* — Through Sunday games
Thursday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 82, Virginia 70
No. 12 Louisville 69, Georgia Tech 50
Notre Dame 72, Syracuse 62
Miami 79, Pittsburgh 58
N.C. State 65, Wake Forest 58
No. 13 Duke 80, Florida State 52
Stanford 87, SMU 57
Clemson 70, California 63
Sunday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 74, No. 13 Duke 69
Virginia Tech 83, Virginia 82
Georgia Tech 79, Miami 49
N.C. State 93, Pittsburgh 43
Stanford 85, Clemson 50
Syracuse 90, Boston College 65
Notre Dame 65, No. 12 Louisville 62
Florida State 77, Wake Forest 74, OT
California 78, SMU 34
End of regular season
ACC tournament
Gas South Arena
Duluth, Ga.
March 4–8
| Date | Day/month | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 4 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. 3 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 13 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 No. 22 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 | W, 84–56 | vs. Wake Forest | 20–5, 9–3 |
| 12 | Thursday | W, 94–42 | vs. SMU | 21–5, 10–3 |
| 15 | Sunday | L, 72–68 | at No. 8 Duke | 21–6, 10–4 |
| 19 | Thursday | W, 66–63, OT | at Virginia Tech | 22–6, 11–4 |
| 22 | Sunday | W, 78–50 | vs. Pittsburgh | 23–6, 12–4 |
| 26 | Thursday | W, 82–70 | at Virginia | 24–6, 13–4 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 72–69 | vs. No. 8 Duke | 25–6, 14–4 |
| ACC tournament | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 85–68 | Quarterfinal vs. Va. Tech | 26–6 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 65–57 | Semifinal vs. No. 13 Louisville | 26–7 |
| NCAA tournament Fort Worth 1 Regional | ||||
| 21 | Friday | W, 82–51 | First round in Chapel Hill: vs. Western Illinois | 27–7 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 74–66 | Second round in Chapel Hill: No. 17 Maryland | 28–7 |
| 27 | Friday | L, 63–52 | Sweet 16 in Fort Worth, Texas: vs. No. 1 UConn | 28–8 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
