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North Carolina women’s basketball officially unveiled its 2026-27 non-conference schedule Thursday, revealing a 14-game slate highlighted by an international season opener, a meeting with the reigning national runner-up and several additional tests against high-major competition.
With the regular season expanding to 32 games and the ACC maintaining an 18-game conference schedule, the Tar Heels will have 14 opportunities to prepare for league play. Nine of those contests will take place inside Carmichael Arena, but the most memorable matchup will occur nearly 4,000 miles away from Chapel Hill.
North Carolina will open its season Monday, Nov. 2, against Oklahoma in the 2026 Oui-Play event at Adidas Arena in Paris, France. It will be an unforgettable setting for the Tar Heels and one of the first games played anywhere in women’s college basketball during the 2026-27 season.
Courtney Banghart’s team will not have much time to recover from its European trip.
Six days later, Carolina will face reigning national runner-up South Carolina in the Ally Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. The Nov. 8 matchup will provide the Tar Heels with an immediate measuring stick against one of the premier programs in the sport.
After facing the Gamecocks, UNC will return to Chapel Hill for its home opener against NC Central on Nov. 11. The Tar Heels will then travel to Philadelphia for their first true road game, meeting Penn at the historic Palestra on Nov. 14. It will be the first meeting between the two programs.
Carolina’s challenging opening month continues at the WBCA Showcase in Orlando. The Tar Heels will play Texas Tech on Nov. 19 before facing Alabama on Nov. 21. Those games give UNC two more opportunities against power-conference opposition away from home.
The Tar Heels will close November with three consecutive games at Carmichael Arena, hosting Gardner-Webb on Nov. 24, Army on Nov. 27 and Brown on Nov. 29.
December begins with another marquee matchup. LSU will visit Chapel Hill on Wednesday, Dec. 2, as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge. The programs have met three previous times, but this will be LSU’s first appearance inside Carmichael Arena and the first meeting between the teams since 2016.
UNC will complete its non-conference schedule with home games against Elon on Dec. 6, Winthrop on Dec. 9, Norfolk State on Dec. 21 and UNCW on Dec. 28. Elon is coached by former Tar Heel standout Charlotte Smith, adding another intriguing storyline to the December slate.
The schedule appears designed to offer balance. Carolina will have nine home games and several contests in which it should be favored, but it will also face five high-major opponents: Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Alabama and LSU.
Last season, North Carolina went 11-2 during non-conference play. Its only defeats came against the only two ranked opponents it faced, No. 3 UCLA and No. 2 Texas. The Tar Heels lost 78-60 to UCLA and 79-64 at Texas before advancing to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season.
This year’s schedule should give Banghart’s eighth UNC team more opportunities to prove itself against high-level competition. The Tar Heels return eight players while adding four experienced transfers and highly regarded freshmen Noelle Bofia and Kate Harpring.
From Paris to Charlotte, Orlando and finally Chapel Hill, North Carolina will be tested in a variety of environments before ACC play begins. The opening week alone, Oklahoma in France followed by South Carolina in Charlotte, should reveal plenty about how quickly the new-look Tar Heels are prepared to compete.
Continue reading...
With the regular season expanding to 32 games and the ACC maintaining an 18-game conference schedule, the Tar Heels will have 14 opportunities to prepare for league play. Nine of those contests will take place inside Carmichael Arena, but the most memorable matchup will occur nearly 4,000 miles away from Chapel Hill.
North Carolina will open its season Monday, Nov. 2, against Oklahoma in the 2026 Oui-Play event at Adidas Arena in Paris, France. It will be an unforgettable setting for the Tar Heels and one of the first games played anywhere in women’s college basketball during the 2026-27 season.
Courtney Banghart’s team will not have much time to recover from its European trip.
Six days later, Carolina will face reigning national runner-up South Carolina in the Ally Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. The Nov. 8 matchup will provide the Tar Heels with an immediate measuring stick against one of the premier programs in the sport.
After facing the Gamecocks, UNC will return to Chapel Hill for its home opener against NC Central on Nov. 11. The Tar Heels will then travel to Philadelphia for their first true road game, meeting Penn at the historic Palestra on Nov. 14. It will be the first meeting between the two programs.
Carolina’s challenging opening month continues at the WBCA Showcase in Orlando. The Tar Heels will play Texas Tech on Nov. 19 before facing Alabama on Nov. 21. Those games give UNC two more opportunities against power-conference opposition away from home.
The Tar Heels will close November with three consecutive games at Carmichael Arena, hosting Gardner-Webb on Nov. 24, Army on Nov. 27 and Brown on Nov. 29.
December begins with another marquee matchup. LSU will visit Chapel Hill on Wednesday, Dec. 2, as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge. The programs have met three previous times, but this will be LSU’s first appearance inside Carmichael Arena and the first meeting between the teams since 2016.
UNC will complete its non-conference schedule with home games against Elon on Dec. 6, Winthrop on Dec. 9, Norfolk State on Dec. 21 and UNCW on Dec. 28. Elon is coached by former Tar Heel standout Charlotte Smith, adding another intriguing storyline to the December slate.
The schedule appears designed to offer balance. Carolina will have nine home games and several contests in which it should be favored, but it will also face five high-major opponents: Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Alabama and LSU.
Last season, North Carolina went 11-2 during non-conference play. Its only defeats came against the only two ranked opponents it faced, No. 3 UCLA and No. 2 Texas. The Tar Heels lost 78-60 to UCLA and 79-64 at Texas before advancing to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season.
This year’s schedule should give Banghart’s eighth UNC team more opportunities to prove itself against high-level competition. The Tar Heels return eight players while adding four experienced transfers and highly regarded freshmen Noelle Bofia and Kate Harpring.
From Paris to Charlotte, Orlando and finally Chapel Hill, North Carolina will be tested in a variety of environments before ACC play begins. The opening week alone, Oklahoma in France followed by South Carolina in Charlotte, should reveal plenty about how quickly the new-look Tar Heels are prepared to compete.
Continue reading...
