By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina moved up two spots to No. 16 in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll after a pair of decisive home victories last week.
The Tar Heels (11–3) blew out UNCW 84–34 on Wednesday and knocked off Charleston Southern 93–74 on Sunday.
UNC plays ACC games the rest of the regular season, beginning with an 8 p.m. game on Monday, Dec. 29, at Boston College (ACC Network).
Carolina now has the third-highest NET ranking in the ACC after falling from 16 to 21 over the weekend. Louisville is at 13 and Notre Dame at 15. The Tar Heels are 0–3 in Quad 1 games, 2–0 in Quad 2 games, 2–0 in Quad 3 games and 7–0 in Quad 4 games.
Two teams just ahead of UNC in last week’s poll lost, aiding the Tar Heels’ rise:
— Baylor (11–3) plummeted seven spots to No. 22 after it lost 61–60 to Texas Tech.
— Tennessee (7–3) fell six spots to No. 23 after an 89–65 loss to ACC-leading Louisville (12–3), which moved up three spots to No. 13 after also beating Eastern Kentucky 76–51.
The only other ACC team in the poll is Notre Dame, which slid up two spots to No. 18 after a 110–38 Sunday victory over Bellarmine.
AP Top 25
| Rank | School (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn (25) | 12–0 | 793 | 1 |
| 2 | Texas (7) | 14–0 | 775 | 2 |
| 3 | South Carolina | 12–1 | 727 | 3 |
| 4 | UCLA | 11–1 | 710 | 4 |
| 5 | LSU | 13–0 | 644 | 5 |
| 6 | Michigan | 10–1 | 636 | 6 |
| 7 | Maryland | 13–0 | 580 | 7 |
| 8 | TCU | 13–0 | 564 | 9 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 11–1 | 564 | 8 |
| 10 | Iowa State | 13–0 | 556 | 10 |
| 11 | Kentucky | 12–1 | 439 | 12 |
| 12 | Vanderbilt | 12–0 | 417 | 13 |
| 13 | Louisville | 12–3 | 400 | 16 |
| 14 | Iowa | 10–2 | 368 | 11 |
| 15 | Ole Miss | 12–1 | 359 | 14 |
| 16 | North Carolina | 11–3 | 301 | 18 |
| 17 | USC | 9–3 | 255 | 19 |
| 18 | Notre Dame | 9–2 | 242 | 20 |
| 19 | Ohio State | 10–1 | 213 | 21 |
| 20 | Nebraska | 12–0 | 180 | 23 |
| 21 | Texas Tech | 14–0 | 126 | NR |
| 22 | Baylor | 11–3 | 124 | 15 |
| 23 | Tennessee | 7–3 | 122 | 17 |
| 24 | Michigan State | 10–1 | 88 | 24 |
| 25 | Princeton | 11–1 | 69 | 25 |
Others receiving votes: Oklahoma St. 37, Alabama 26, Stanford 21, Georgia 20, Washington 17, N.C. State 12, Arizona St. 7, Illinois 4, Oregon 3, BYU 1.
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 17 Duke | 12–0 | 17–6 | 14 |
| No. 6 Louisville | 11–1 | 21–4 | 7 |
| Syracuse | 9–3 | 19–4 | 39 |
| N.C. State | 9–3 | 16–7 | 26 |
| No. 25 North Carolina | 8–3 | 19–5 | 21 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–4 | 18–6 | 42 |
| Virginia | 8–4 | 16–7 | 38 |
| Clemson | 7–5 | 16–8 | 37 |
| Notre Dame | 7–5 | 15–8 | 31 |
| Stanford | 5–6 | 16–8 | 36 |
| California | 5–6 | 14–10 | 54 |
| Georgia Tech | 5–7 | 10–14 | 94 |
| Miami | 4–8 | 12–11 | 49 |
| Florida State | 2–9 | 7–16 | 110 |
| Wake Forest | 3–9 | 13–11 | 123 |
| SMU | 1–10 | 8–15 | 181 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–10 | 8–16 | 260 |
| Boston College | 0–12 | 4–21 | 248 |
* — Through Wednesday games
Thursday’s results
No. 25 North Carolina 53, Clemson 44
Stanford 86, Boston College 65
No. 17 Duke 59, No. 6 Louisville 58
Notre Dame 80, Virginia Tech 70
Virginia 67, Miami 56
California 63, Georgia Tech 56
Wake Forest 70, SMU 65
N.C. State 83, Florida State 55
Sunday’s games
No. 6 Louisville at Syracuse, noon, ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Virginia Tech, noon, ACC Network
California at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. ACCN Extra
No. 25 North Carolina at Wake Forest, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at No. 17 Duke, 2 p.m. The CW
Notre Dame at Virginia, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Miami at Florida State, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stanford at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Boston College at Clemson, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
| 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. 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. 4 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 78 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 | W, 61–59 | at N.C. State | 18–5, 7–3 |
| 5 | Thursday | W, 53–44 | vs. Clemson | 19–5, 8–3 |
| 8 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 12 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 15 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 20 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. 20 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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