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The UNC women's basketball program is heading to Cancun!

For the second time in the Courtney Banghart era, the Tar Heels are heading to Cancun for some non-conference action!
ByNick Delahanty|
Nov 25, 2024; Paradise Island, Bahamas, BHS; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Lanie Grant (0) celebrates with North Carolina Tar Heels forward Ciera Toomey (21) after scoring during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at the Atlantis Resort. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Nov 25, 2024; Paradise Island, Bahamas, BHS; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Lanie Grant (0) celebrates with North Carolina Tar Heels forward Ciera Toomey (21) after scoring during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at the Atlantis Resort. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Get your passports ready: the UNC women's basketball program is taking a trip to Cancun!

While fans anxiously await the 2025-2026 non-conference schedule to drop, they got a small tidbit to add to the anticipation. It was announced that the Tar Heels will be participating in the 2025 Cancun Challenge from November 27-29 at the Hard Rock Hotel Maya Rivera.

North Carolina isn't a stranger to destination tournaments. Last season, the Tar Heels won the Battle 4 Atlantis, an event held in the Bahamas. In fact, this is the second time that a Courtney Banghart-led Tar Heels squad will head to the Bahamas, returning for the first time since 2019 (Banghart's first season at the helm).

Now, the UNC women's basketball program will take on the Bahamas, an event featuring four teams that won at least one NCAA Tournament game the previous season.

Those teams that will be included in the field are as follows: Columbia, Kansas State, and South Dakota State. The format is simple: North Carolina will face each team throughout the three-day event in a round-robin style.

In terms of the competition, North Carolina doesn't have much previous history against the field. Other than Kansas State (who the Tar Heels have played twice, most recently in the 2023 Fort Myers Classic), the UNC women's basketball program has yet to face Columbia (who almost advanced to face North Carolina in the 2025 NCAA Tournament) or South Dakota State, but that will change this November!

While we wait for the rest of the non-conference slate, this piece of information is an important one to note for the UNC women's basketball program. Banghart and her teams haven't been afraid of steep competition, scheduling some tough games against non-conference foes.

The pieces are starting to fall into place, and we will soon know who will be on the UNC women's basketball program's schedule this upcoming season.

At least for now, we have a few confirmed games to talk about!

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