NC State, Duke, UNC women’s hoops schedules released. Here’s what to know

All three women’s basketball teams in the Triangle made NCAA Tournament appearances last season, and they each look to do the same this winter. The ACC released the 2024-25 schedule, signaling the season is nearing its debut and another shot at holding a trophy begins.

The Wolfpack enters the season after going 31-7 in its 2023-24 campaign and making it to the Final Four. It was the first Final Four appearance since 1998 and second of all time. Head coach Wes Moore notched the No. 17 best recruiting class, according to ESPN’s final rankings. Point guard Zamareya Jones leads the group, ranking No. 21 of all prospects.

Duke made the Sweet 16 and finished with a 22-12 record in Kara Lawson’s fourth year at the helm. It ranks No. 7 in ESPN’s 2024 recruiting class rankings, bringing in two top-20 recruits in forward Toby Fournier (No. 10) and forward/center Arianna Roberson (No. 17).

How Kara Lawson’s ‘Handle Hard Better’ mantra pushed Duke back to the Sweet 16

Finally, North Carolina ended the season 20-13. It faced eventual-champion South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament second round. The Tar Heels signed the 15th-best class, according to ESPN, headlined by center Blanca Thomas (No. 32).

With the ACC’s expansion, the teams only have one home-and-home series. N.C. State plays Wake Forest, while Duke and UNC play each other twice.

There’s plenty of excitement and opportunity for each team as they enter another year of college hoops. Here’s a look at the entire schedule for the Triangle trio.

Can’t-miss basketball games

All three women’s basketball programs in the Triangle play a 2024 Final Four team in the non-conference schedule. N.C. State and Duke both face South Carolina, while UNC faces UConn.

The Wolfpack and Gamecocks play on Nov. 10 in Charlotte for the Ally Tipoff. This will be a rematch of the 2024 Final Four semifinal game, when South Carolina beat N.C. State, 78-59, at Cleveland. Aside from its marquee rematch, the Pack heads to Louisville on Dec. 15 when it participates in the Jimmy V Classic and plays its ACC opener against the Cardinals.

N.C. State returns Saniya Rivers, Madison Hayes, Aziaha James and Zoe Brooks.

NC State basketball will play in Jimmy V Women’s Classic for first time since 2020

The Blue Devils face the Gamecocks on Dec. 5 in Columbia for the ACC/SEC Challenge. They fell to South Carolina in the non-conference last season, 77-61, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Sure, the Gamecocks lost Kamilla Cardoso and the Huskies lost Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl to the WNBA, but both South Carolina and UConn return a number of highly-efficient players.

Dawn Staley’s squad features significant returners Te-Hina Paopao, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Chloe Kitts and postseason star Tessa Johnson. And, its recruiting class is ranked No. 3.

Duke may have the most difficult matchup between the three teams considering it has to play South Carolina on the road.

However, the Blue Devils have six key contributors, including Reigan Richardson and Oluchi Okananwa, from last season back on the roster and graduate guard Vanessa de Jesus is back after missing last season with an injury. Plus, Cardoso led the team with 15 points, 14 rebounds, two steals and a pair of assists in last year’s contest. Maybe that will give Duke more even footing.

N.C. State gets a neutral site matchup with the Gamecocks with most of its core group back on the floor, which may make things a little easier — although no games are actually easy against South Carolina.

Finally, the Tar Heels take on the Huskies in Greensboro on Nov. 15 for a pseudo-home game, but their roster looks drastically different. Carolina lost Deja Kelly, Anya Poole, Teonni Key, Paulina Paris and Alexandra Zelaya to the transfer portal.

Despite signing several strong freshmen, Alyssa Ustby, Lexi Donarski and Maria Gakdeng are the only primary contributors back in the lineup. Ciera Toomey was a highly-ranked freshmen last year that missed the season with an injury, so there are questions about how the Heels will fit together.

UConn’s returners include Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and Ashlynn Shade, and its 2024 class is No. 2 in the nation. The Huskies won the last six meetings, including a 76-64 victory last season.

These three games should give fans a taste of March in the first month of play.

Trap game alerts

NC State: TCU, Nov. 17

Nearly two weeks into the season, the Wolfpack heads to Fort Worth, where it will play TCU. The Horned Frogs went 21-12 last season, including 0-7 against ranked opponents — 0-9 if you count its two injury forfeits. Coach Mark Campbell hit the portal hard this offseason, adding Taylor Bigby (Southern Cal/Oregon), Hailey Van Lith (Louisville/LSU), Donovyn Hunter (Oregon State), Deasia Merrill (Kentucky/Georgia State) and Madison Scherr (Kentucky).

The Wolfpack should have the upper hand considering key pieces from the Final Four run remain in place and it added new impact players. TCU, however, seeks to start Campbell’s second season by picking up a statement win and multiple veteran players look to make a point.

UNC: Wake Forest, Jan. 23

Wake Forest could be a trap game for all three teams, but Carolina is likely the most susceptible to a loss. The Demon Deacons fell far short of the goals head coach Megan Gebbia set for her team, but 12 of its losses last season were by 10 points or fewer. One such loss came against the Tar Heels in Winston-Salem. The Deacs fell to the Heels, 58-50. They also led N.C. State in their game at Reynolds Coliseum and nearly pulled off the upset. It’s easy to look past the in-state opponent with a losing record, but Carolina definitely should not.

Duke: Clemson, Feb. 6

Duke hosts Clemson at home, which should help, but it’ll face a team desperate to pick up a big win under first-year head coach Shawn Poppie. Clemson has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2019, but Poppie is familiar. He comes from Chattanooga — N.C. State’s first round opponent in March — where he led the team to consecutive March Madness berths. He guided the Mocs to a SoCon Title in 2024 and runner up in 2023. Additionally, he spent time on Kenny Brooks’ staff at Virginia Tech from 2016-22. The Devils should be the favorite, but Clemson could surprise everyone.

Easiest stretch

None of the Triangle’s teams have a particularly easy stretch, considering the balance of each team’s schedule. For every so-called easy team, the programs scheduled another strong mid-major or power program.

However, there are a couple spots that should be easier than others.

Duke: Nov. 14-21

The Blue Devils should be fine in their three-game stretch during mid-November. They host Dayton (Nov. 14) and Belmont (Nov. 21) in Durham. Duke also heads to South Dakota State (Nov. 17) in between those two games. On paper, the Devils are a much stronger team and should handle those three contests easily.

UNC: Nov. 4-12

The Tar Heels have arguably the toughest conference schedule, and most of its nonconference schedule features a Power Four game every 7-10 days. But, Courtney Banghart gave her team — with all of its new players and ones returning from injuries — a chance to ease in. Carolina opens the season against Charleston Southern (Nov. 4) and UNC Wilmington (Nov. 7) before heading to North Carolina A&T (Nov. 12). All of those are winnable games and should give the Heels confidence, and a chance to work out kinks, before facing UConn.

NC State: Dec. 8-19

With the exception of its road matchup with Louisville on Dec. 15, the Wolfpack should have success with Old Dominion (Dec. 8), Davidson (Dec. 11) and James Madison (Dec. 19). Plus, all three games are at Reynolds Coliseum and give N.C. State homecourt advantage.

Toughest stretch

The ACC has been consistently labeled the toughest conference for women’s basketball, so every game is expected to be tough, but late January and February are expected to be the most difficult for the Triangle squads.

UNC: Jan. 30-Feb. 27

Out of all three teams, Carolina got the short end of the stick and will play 6 of 8 games on the road during this time frame. Five contests take place out of state and two are on the west coast. Those opponents? Cal, Stanford, Clemson, Syracuse, Louisville and Duke. In the two games the Tar Heels are home, UNC hosts N.C. State and Virginia Tech. There are arguments to be made that new coaches on the benches for multiple teams, like Virginia Tech and Stanford. But, let’s be real, these teams have been successful and spending most of the month away from home is never easy.

NC State: Feb. 16-23

Because of the balance in the Wolfpack’s schedule, it does not go on the road for long periods of time. That is a major plus for a team hoping to make a second postseason run. However, it does have a week-long stint in February that could pose a challenge. N.C. State heads to UNC (Feb. 16) and Georgia Tech (Feb. 20) and returns home to face Notre Dame (Feb. 23).

The Heels and Yellow Jackets underperformed last season, but they brought in top-25 recruiting classes and some transfers that should help this season. Plus, they’re playing two teams on the road that would love to take down a Final Four team. Then, the team returns home to face the reigning ACC champion — the one N.C. State lost to in the title game — and Hannah Hidalgo? There’s no guarantee on any of those games.

Duke: Jan. 23-Feb. 17

Like UNC, the Blue Devils have a similarly tough stretch in the late portion of January into February and play five of seven games on the road and three out of state. Duke will face SMU, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Wake Forest and Notre Dame in that period. It hosts Clemson and Miami in the middle. This schedule isn’t quite as difficult as Carolina’s, but it’ll still challenge Lawson’s squad. The Devils have their work cut out for them, because most of the programs listed tested them in the past and are expected to make things difficult again.

Biggest non-conference test

Is it a cop-out to say the South Carolina and UConn games will be the biggest tests? There’s a reason the matchups are must-watch basketball. OK, aside from those, here are the other big tests.

NC State: LSU, Nov. 27

This game is not actually guaranteed, but the Wolfpack plays the Pink Flamingo Classic in the Bahamas this year. It starts with a matchup against Southern, while LSU faces Washington. Barring any crazy upsets, N.C. State and LSU are on a collision course to meet in the championship game. Coached by sparkly, sequinned Kim Mulkey, the 2023 national champions are coming off an Elite Eight run in 2024 (they lost to Iowa) and expected to have another strong season. Early predictions put the Tigers in the top 10 alongside the Wolfpack.

Duke: Maryland, Nov. 10

The Terrapins didn’t have their best season last year and they brought in a lot of new faces, while Duke returns its core players from the Sweet 16 run. Maryland didn’t reach 20 wins last season for the first time in two decades and failed to advance from the NCAA Tournament first round. In fact, It would be easy to say the Blue Devils should win, considering the Terrapins likely will be figuring out rotations and building on-court chemistry.

That said, head coach Brenda Frese is a proven winner and has the No. 20 recruiting class. Frese boasts a 582-161 (.783) record in 22 seasons at Maryland. Playing in a hostile road environment against an experienced roster and coaching staff will make this a tough game, especially six days into the season, regardless of the Terrapins’ finish last March.

UNC: Florida, Dec. 18

The Gators were in a similar position last year. They had their worst finish under Kelly Rae Finley (16-16, 5-11 SEC) and missed the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, so it would be easy to think the Tar Heels will roll past Florida in a neutral site game in Charlotte. Finley, however, added a top-10 recruiting class — the best in her tenure — that includes point guard Alivia McGill (No. 15) and Kylee Kitts, the sister of South Carolina returner Chloe Kitts. The Gators also return leading scorer Aliyah Matharu and leading rebounder Ra Shaya Kyle.

Runner up: The Heels’ game against Kentucky in the ACC/SEC Challenge. It faces former Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks, former ACC star Georgia Amoore and its own former player Teonni Key.

Here are the full schedules of all three women’s basketball teams in the Triangle.

NC State basketball schedule

* Ally Tipoff, Charlotte

^ Pink Flamingo Championship, Nassau, Bahamas

& ACC/SEC Challenge

# Jimmy V Classic and ACC opener

UNC basketball schedule

* @ Greensboro Coliseum

^ Battle 4 Atlantis

& ACC/SEC Challenge

# Jumpman Invitational, Charlotte

Duke basketball schedule

* Ball Dawgs Classic, Las Vegas

^ ACC/SEC Challenge