CHAPEL HILL — No. 11 North Carolina can’t keep all of its guards healthy, but whoever the Tar Heels roll out there, they just keep rolling. A game after redshirt freshman Kayla McPherson made her long-awaited college debut came news that fifth-year player Eva Hodgson will miss three to four weeks with an upper-body injury. She joins reserve guard Ariel Young (knee injury) on the sidelines.

Some fans who can’t make it to Carmichael Arena on Thursday to see the No. 11 Carolina women face Virginia may have a tough time watching the game from home. The 6 p.m. game is one of three remaining UNC women’s games that will air on regional sports networks, and not everybody has access to one of them or an easy alternative way to watch. Tickets are still available for only $10 each.

Deja Kelly is one of 20 players in the country on the midseason watch list for the Wooden Award Women’s Player of the year. Kelly, a junior guard from San Antonio, Texas, was one of 50 to make the preseason watchlist, which got pared down Monday.

By R.L. Bynum After putting up season-high numbers of 22 points, six 3-pointers and five steals in her first college … More

Carolina jumped four spots to No. 11 in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll, thanks to a pair of road victories that extended the Tar Heels’ ACC win streak to seven games and losses by six teams ahead of them in last week’s poll. The Tar Heels (16–5, 7–3 ACC) try to keep the momentum going on Thursday at 6 o’clock (regional sports networks), when they return home to face Virginia (14–8, 3–8), which they beat 70–59 in Charlottesville, Va., on Jan. 12.

With Kayla McPherson and Paulina Paris in Carolina’s backcourt for years to come, the Tar Heels will create nightmares for opponents with three versatile lead guards. Anybody who didn’t already consider No. 15 UNC a national contender should reconsider as quickly as McPherson can whip by a defender on a drive.

A hungry and determined Pittsburgh team put up an unexpected fight against No. 15 North Carolina but became the latest team to learn how hard it is to beat the Tar Heels. A tie game entering the final quarter turned into a blowout in a flash. The Panthers led for more than 17 minutes before Carolina took control with a 17–1 run to start the fourth quarter as the Tar Heels won 72–57 Thursday for their sixth consecutive victory. After scoring 29 points in the first half, Carolina poured it on with 28 fourth-quarter points.

After extending its win streak to five, North Carolina moved up two spots to No. 15 in the latest AP Top 25 women’s poll. The Tar Heels (14–5, 5–3 ACC) earned a second consecutive win over a ranked team by knocking off Duke 61–56 on Thursday, then coasted by Georgia Tech 70–57 on Sunday. They have three wins over teams ranked in the top 13 during the current streak.

CHAPEL HILL — It wasn’t quite to the level of the Michael Jordan flu game, but Carolina junior Alyssa Ustby went from feeling sick and on an IV to being a key player down the stretch, making it a day to remember. She scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and made the No. 17 Tar Heels’ offense productive down the stretch. UNC held on for a 61–56 victory Thursday over No. 13 Duke before a passionate crowd of 5,003 at Carmichael Arena for its fourth consecutive win and fifth over a ranked team.

It was good to have the Carmichael Arena atmosphere back Sunday to how it should be for every game. The atmosphere with a sellout crowd was more like the heyday of the Sylvia Hatchell era, when Tar Heels fans came out in force for big games and were a factor. It was the first sellout since Hatchell’s No. 15 Tar Heels lost 74–67 to No. 12 Duke in overtime on Jan. 25, 2015.