UNC earns highest season rank in AP Top 25 women’s poll

After escaping Clemson with its third consecutive win, all on the road, North Carolina has earned its highest AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll ranking in more than two years. The Tar Heels (21–4, 9–3 ACC), unbeaten on the road at 7–0, moved up one spot to No. 12 in the latest poll, released Monday, their best ranking since being No. 11 on Jan. 30, 2023. UNC, which dropped one spot in the NET rankings to 14th after Sunday’s win, has been ranked no lower than 19th this season after going unranked for the final six polls last season.

UNC survives upset bid, late gaffe as Kelly keeps Heels unbeaten on the road

CLEMSON, S.C. — The road resembled Easy Street for No. 13 North Carolina most of the season until the Tar Heels veered into a path full of potholes Sunday, including a self-inflicted one at the end. The Tigers had lost seven of their previous eight games but didn’t play like it. Add to that UNC’s offensive struggles and poor shooting, and it produced a much more challenging-than-expected 53–51 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Win over Pitt does little to help UNC’s NCAA chances, and there was other bad NET ranking news

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina may have kept its hopes alive of making the NCAA tournament with a Quad 2 home 67–66 victory Saturday over Pittsburgh, but the win did little to bolster the team’s resume, and there was bad NET ranking news. The Tar Heels (14–10, 7–5 ACC), who fell to 44th in the NET ranking after the loss at Duke a week earlier, slipped to 45th even though they didn’t play last week and stayed at 45th after the victory.

UNC’s next two games crucial, with few projecting them to make NCAA men’s field

With North Carolina’s chances of making the NCAA men’s tournament looking dire, a stretch of two games in three days beginning Saturday is crucial. Only 14.4% of bracket projections listed on Bracket Matrix (13 of 90) have the Tar Heels (13–10, 6–5 ACC) in the field 40 days away from Selection Sunday, with 12 of them predicting the Tar Heels as a No. 11 seed, which would mean a trip to Dayton, Ohio, for the First Four.

Hubert Davis says there’s time to turn the season around

With RJ Davis as the only current player who was part of North Carolina’s 2022 turnaround from February struggles to the national championship game, Coach Hubert Davis says he doesn’t mention that season to the team.

Even with UNC (13–10, 6–5 ACC) mired in a stretch of four losses in the last five games heading into Saturday’s 4 p.m. home game (ESPN2) with Pittsburgh (14–7, 5–5), he said that he emphasizes that there is plenty of time to turn the season around.

Ustby leads Heels to fastest 20th win in 11 years; they complete 2–0 California trip

Alyssa Ustby did it all for No. 15 North Carolina to help the Tar Heels complete a huge 2–0 week in California. Ustby scored 16 points, tied her career-high with four 3-pointers and made a crucial defensive play at the end to help UNC hold on for a 69–67 victory Sunday at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif., after Stanford erased a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit.

UNC puts up fight late but digs too big of a hole at Duke

DURHAM — Giving up height at every position, a daunting matchup for North Carolina turned into a nightmare, and the Tar Heels didn’t put up much of a fight until it was too late against No. 2 Duke. The talented Blue Devils took control early and rolled to an 87–70 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday night. UNC made the final score closer with an 18–2 run but lost for the fourth time in five games as an NCAA berth starts to look out of reach.

Sloppy offense costs Heels, who Coach Davis says have ‘thin margin for error’

PITTSBURGH — North Carolina came to Pittsburgh hoping to get off the NCAA bubble, and with sloppy, disjointed offense, the Tar Heels may have done that. Just not in the way they expected. The Tar Heels are probably looking up at the bubble after blowing a 10-point first-half lead and falling 73–65 Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center.

UNC projected for First Four, among ‘last 4 in’

Even after surviving what would have been a devastating home loss to Boston College, North Carolina’s NCAA tournament hopes are teetering after the Tar Heels began a tough four-game stretch with a Quad 1 loss. Only 50 of 86 bracket projections on Bracket Matrix have UNC in the field, with the average seed being the fourth-highest No. 11 seed. The Tar Heels (13–9, 6–4 ACC) were already in a bad position before Tuesday’s 73–65 loss at Pittsburgh dropped them from 40th to 42nd in the NET rankings.

Wilson, Brooks named to McDonald’s All-American Games

North Carolina will have two five-star players playing in the McDonald’s All-American Games on April 1 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Forward Caleb Wilson, a 6–9, 195-pound power forward who committed to the Tar Heels last Thursday and 6–2 wing Nyla Brooks — the top players in the UNC men’s and women’s teams’ Class of 2025 — will represent the Tar Heels in the games.