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.
Subscribe to read Tar Heel Tribune ad-free
Subscribe for a cleaner, smoother reading experience without the flashing banners, slow-loading elements, or those especially annoying pop‑up ads that interrupt the flow of the story. You’ll also get the first version of each story emailed to you. The only ads you’ll see are static, non-intrusive ads for UNC‑related books, and there are none currently on the site.
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* | 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 | Times/ scores | Opponent/event (rank in final poll) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |||
| 18 | Sunday | W, 76–66 | vs. Davidson | |
| 24 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at No. 20 Maryland | B1G+ * |
| November | Regular season | |||
| 2 | Monday | 2:30 ET | Oui-Play in Paris vs. No. 12 Oklahoma | ESPN2 |
| 8 | Sunday | 5:30 | Ally Tipoff in Charlotte vs. No. 2 South Carolina | ESPN |
| 11 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. N.C. Central | ACCNE |
| 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. No. 24 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. 8 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. 11 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. 9 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. No. 19 Virginia | ACCN |
| 28 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | at No. 5 Duke | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 3–7 | Wed.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
* — The Big Ten Network’s B1G+ is a subscription service.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
