By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina moved up one spot to No. 11 in the the latest AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll and is 13th in the first NET ranking after three impressive victories on successive days to win the Cancun Challenge last week. But it faces a considerable challenge ahead this week.
The Tar Heels (8–1) beat South Dakota State 83–48, Kansas State 84–73 and Columbia 80–63 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Tournament MVP Indya Nivar is the ACC Player of the Week after producing the second triple-double in program history, averaging 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.7 steals and 6.0 assists while shooting 53.6% in three Cancun games.
Carolina, which returned the ranking it held in the first two polls of the season, has been No. 14 or higher for 13 consecutive weeks, the longest such stretch since doing so for 16 straight weeks from Feb. 17, 2014, to Jan. 19, 2015.
UNC leapfrogged undefeated Iowa (8–0), which fell one spot to No. 12.
The Tar Heels visit Texas (8–0), which moved up two spots to No. 2, at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2) in the ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge.
The Longhorns earned two two huge victories last week, with a 76–65 victory over UCLA (down one spot to No. 4), which gave UNC its only loss (78–60 in Las Vegas on Nov. 13), and a 66–64 victory over South Carolina (down one spot to No. 3), which beat the Tar Heels in a preseason exhibition game (91–82 in Atlanta on Oct. 30).
Those were the only losses by teams that were ahead of UNC in last week’s poll.
Carolina remains the highest-ranked among the three ACC teams in the poll, with No. 18 Notre Dame (5–1) and No. 22 Louisville (7–2) both moving up one spot.
N.C. State (5–3) was No. 25 last week but fell out of the poll with the 26th-most poll points.
UNC also has the best NET ranking among ACC teams at 13th, followed by Louisville (14th), Stanford (23rd), Notre Dame (32nd), Virginia (34th), N.C. State (39th), Syracuse (41st), Clemson (44th), Duke (49th), Miami (50th), Virginia Tech (55th), California (72nd), Florida State (87th), Wake Forest (95th), Georgia Tech (103rd), Boston College (172nd), SMU (204th) and Pittsburgh (241st).
AP Top 25
| Rank | School (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn (22) | 7–0 | 790 | 1 |
| 2 | Texas (10) | 8–0 | 777 | 4 |
| 3 | South Carolina | 7–1 | 719 | 2 |
| 4 | UCLA | 8–1 | 713 | 3 |
| 5 | LSU | 8–0 | 652 | 5 |
| 6 | Michigan | 6–1 | 629 | 6 |
| 7 | Maryland | 9–0 | 599 | 7 |
| 8 | TCU | 8–0 | 561 | 8 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 7–1 | 546 | 9 |
| 10 | Iowa State | 9–0 | 502 | 10 |
| 11 | North Carolina | 8–1 | 463 | 12 |
| 12 | Iowa | 8–0 | 452 | 11 |
| 13 | Ole Miss | 7–0 | 396 | 13 |
| 14 | Baylor | 7–1 | 355 | 15 |
| 15 | Vanderbilt | 8–0 | 335 | 17 |
| 16 | USC | 5–2 | 288 | 18 |
| 17 | Kentucky | 8–1 | 284 | 16 |
| 18 | Notre Dame | 5–1 | 276 | 19 |
| 19 | Tennessee | 5–2 | 245 | 14 |
| 20 | Michigan State | 8–0 | 233 | 20 |
| 21 | Washington | 7–0 | 171 | 22 |
| 22 | Louisville | 7–2 | 105 | 23 |
| 23 | Ohio State | 6–1 | 84 | 23 |
| 24 | Oklahoma State | 8–1 | 83 | 24 |
| 25 | West Virginia | 6–1 | 64 | 21 |
Others receiving votes: N.C. State 26, Nebraska 19, Richmond 7, Texas Tech 7, Princeton 6, Oregon 6, Georgia 3, Stanford 2, Fairfield 1, Alabama 1.
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 9 Louisville | 6–0 | 16–3 | 11 |
| Duke | 6–0 | 11–6 | 19 |
| Virginia | 5–1 | 13–4 | 39 |
| N.C. State | 5–1 | 12–5 | 27 |
| Syracuse | 4–2 | 14–3 | 41 |
| No. 23 Notre Dame | 4–2 | 12–4 | 22 |
| Stanford | 3–2 | 14–4 | 35 |
| Virginia Tech | 3–3 | 13–5 | 51 |
| Clemson | 3–3 | 12–6 | 40 |
| Miami | 3–3 | 11–6 | 43 |
| Georgia Tech | 3–3 | 8–10 | 93 |
| North Carolina | 2–3 | 13–5 | 26 |
| Wake Forest | 2–4 | 12–6 | 116 |
| California | 1–4 | 10–8 | 61 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–4 | 8–10 | 243 |
| SMU | 0–5 | 7–10 | 154 |
| Florida State | 0–5 | 5–12 | 104 |
| Boston College | 0–6 | 4–14 | 250 |
* — Through Wednesday games
Thursday games
No. 9 Louisville at No. 23 Notre Dame, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Florida State at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stanford at Boston College, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Wake Forest, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Miami at North Carolina, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Virginia Tech at SMU, 7:30, ACCN Extra
Virginia at Duke, 8 p.m. ACC Network
Sunday games
California at Boston College, noon, ACCN Extra
Wake Forest at Clemson, noon, ACC Network
No. 9 Louisville at N.C. State, 1 p.m., ESPN2
SMU at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m., ACCN Extra
North Carolina at Florida State, 2 p.m., The CW
Stanford at Syracuse, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at Duke, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Monday’s game
No. 23 Notre Dame at No. 1 UConn, 5 p.m., Fox
Thursday, Jan. 22, games
Miami at No. 23 Notre Dame, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Clemson at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Pittsburgh at Virginia, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Florida State at SMU, 7:30, ACCN Extra
North Carolina at Georgia Tech, 8 p.m., ACC Network
| 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. 9 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 | L, 73–50 | at No. 23 Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–2 |
| 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
tarheeltribune.com 