Tag: NCAA

Heels fall in AP Top 25 after 8-game win streak ends at Louisville

Carolina slipped three spots to No. 14 in the latest AP Top 25 women’s poll after the Tar Heels — without two starters — lost 62–55 at Louisville on Sunday. It’s their 11th week ranked in the top 15 this season, the most since 16 weeks in the 2014–15 season. The Tar Heels (17–6, 8–4 ACC) won their eighth consecutive game with Thursday’s 73–62 home win over Virginia before the Cardinals ended the streak. Fifth-year guard Eva Hodgson (upper-body injury) missed both games, and junior wing Alyssa Ustby (lower-body injury) was out for the game against Louisville.

After two straight losses, UNC badly needs some wins to elude bubble

The opportunities for North Carolina to solidify its position in the NCAA men’s tournament will be there. But the Tar Heels, reeling after two consecutive close losses, will have to stack up some wins in their last eight games to avoid the bubble. The Tar Heels (15–8, 7–5 ACC), 44th in the NET rankings, are 1–7 in what the current rankings classify as Quad 1 games. UNC will get four — and possibly five — more chances for more Quad 1 wins, starting with Tuesday night’s visit to Wake Forest (69 in the NET).

Down two starters and shooting poorly, UNC’s 8-game win streak snapped at Louisville

Leaning on No. 11 Carolina’s young talent, the Tar Heels showed resiliency playing without two starters. With fifth-year guard Eva Hodgson already out for three to four weeks with an upper-body injury, junior wing Alyssa Ustby also was out Sunday with a lower-body injury against a talented Louisville team in a tough road environment.

Good, Bad and Ugly Report: At Duke

Imagine that some sportswriters wrote thought pieces wondering if the UNC-Duke rivalry would be the same without Coach K and Roy on the sidelines and after the Heels sent Duke packing not only in Mike Krzyzewski’s last home game, but in the Final Four as well. Imagine. There were lots of new faces, but plenty of the old-time energy as the Blue Devils outlasted Carolina in a 63-57 rock fight in a raucous Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday night.

RJ Davis’ right index finger should point to better UNC success as it improves

CHAPEL HILL — You might say that the finger that’s on the pulse of what makes Carolina’s offense go is RJ Davis’ right index finger. After he dislocated that finger on his shooting hand early in the season, he struggled to find his shooting stroke, and the team’s struggles followed. Davis shot under 40% seven times in November and December, with the Tar Heels going 3–4 in those games. When he shoots at least 40% this season, Carolina is 12–2.

No. 11 Heels roll to eighth win in a row as McPherson leads five in double figures

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.