The North Carolina women's basketball team, coming off a year in which it won the Atlantic Coast Conference title and reached the Elite Eight, will face a challenging mix of familiar and new opponents during the 2005-06 season. The schedule, announced Thursday, includes 15 home games, as well as trips to Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Cancun, Mexico.

"I'm really excited about our schedule," said UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell, who is entering her 20th season in Chapel Hill. "We'll play some very strong opponents - some that we face every year and some that are new to us - and make some fun trips. I just can't wait to get started."

The Tar Heels, 30-4 overall and 12-2 in the ACC last year, will play a total of 13 teams that competed in last year's NCAA Tournament. Six of those are nonconference opponents: Arizona State, Connecticut, Liberty, Old Dominion, TCU and Vanderbilt. Seven ACC opponents made the postseason and Carolina will play two of those - Duke and NC State - twice, for a total of 15 matchups with 2005 NCAA Tournament teams.

The schedule includes 10 regular-season television games, including five national broadcasts.

UNC opens the season at home against Davidson on Nov. 18 then hosts Liberty, a Sweet 16 team last season, on Nov. 21. After that, the Tar Heels will join an outstanding field at the Caribbean Classic in Cancun. UNC opens play Nov. 25 against Arizona State, a team the Tar Heels defeated 79-72 in last year's Tempe Region semifinal on the Sun Devils' homecourt. The next day, Carolina will face TCU, which finished 23-10 last season and won the Conference USA Tournament to reach the NCAA field. Also playing in Mexico are California, Louisville, Marshall, Mississippi State and defending-NCAA champion Baylor.

Following that trip, the first to Mexico in school history, UNC will play three home games (UNC Asheville, Charleston Southern, South Florida) in four days before departing for Hartford to face Connecticut in the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 5. The game, to be televised by ESPN2, is a rematch of the opener in last year's Jimmy V doubleheader in Raleigh, in which UNC defeated the Huskies 71-65. This year's women's event will feature just one game.

Other nonconference highlights are a Dec. 20 matchup with Vanderbilt in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and a Dec. 29 game at Old Dominion. The Commodores reached the Sweet 16 in 2005, while ODU won the Colonial Athletic Association title and reached the NCAA first round.

"In our nonconference schedule, I'm excited to play outstanding teams like Connecticut and Arizona State for the second year in a row and to continue our series with Old Dominion," Hatchell said. "We'll also play some great teams like TCU, Vanderbilt and Liberty that we haven't played in several years or are meeting for the first time. After those games, we'll face the challenge of our conference, which has become the toughest in the nation. I know we've got our work cut out for us, but I think we've got a group that's up to the challenge."

As the ACC expands to 12 teams, Carolina will add Boston College to the schedule, hosting the Eagles on Feb. 20. UNC will travel to Miami (Jan. 9) and Virginia Tech (Feb. 17) after hosting both league newcomers last year. Carolina will play home-and-home series with NC State, Duke and Georgia Tech. UNC travels to Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest and hosts Boston College, Clemson, Florida State and Maryland.

The Tar Heels will seek to win a second consecutive conference crown at the 2006 ACC Tournament March 2-5 in Greensboro, N.C. The event will run from Thursday to Sunday, instead of Friday to Monday as in past years. UNC has won back-to-back crowns on two previous occasions, in 1994 and '95 and in 1997 and '98.

Carolina returns four starters, all of whom have earned All-ACC honors during their careers. Junior guard Ivory Latta was named to the All-ACC first team last season and was the 2005 ACC Tournament MVP. Sophomore forward Erlana Larkins was named to the All-ACC second team and to the All-Freshman team in 2005. Junior forward Camille Little was named to the All-ACC first team in 2004, when she was named ACC Rookie of the Year, and to the third team in 2005. And senior guard/forward La'Tangela Atkinson, the 2003 ACC Rookie of the Year, was named to the All-ACC third team in 2004 and received honorable mention in 2005.

See the full schedule at tarheelblue.com.