FORT WORTH, Texas – North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart couldn’t have asked much more of her senior star Indya Nivar on Friday afternoon at Dickies Arena.
Nivar led her Tar Heels into battle with top-seeded and undefeated UConn, completing the unenviable challenge of facing all four No. 1 seeds in a season, and turned in a career-high 20 points while shooting 8-for-15 from the field.
North Carolina fell 63-42 to the defending champions, but Banghart beamed when questions turned to Nivar.
“You know, it doesn’t always work out like this where you do things the right way, and it pays off,” Banghart said. “She is such an example of that.”
Nivar, who grew up in Apex, N.C., transferred into Banghart’s program after spending her freshman year at Stanford. She played in all 35 games for the Cardinal, but started just one. She started six for the Tar Heels the following year, averaging 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, but broke into the main rotation as a junior.
She started 34 games and helped lead the Tar Heels to the Sweet 16, posting a team-high 68 steals and establishing herself as one of the ACC’s most dangerous defenders.
Then, just as it seemed Nivar was getting comfortable, her role completely changed. North Carolina lost nine players to either graduation or the transfer portal, and she was suddenly thrust into an unfamiliar leadership position. Although she was hesitant at first, Nivar stepped up to anchor a young roster and lead them all the way back to the Sweet 16.
“It really pushes me as a player to step up, to be better in times where I feel like I can relax a bit,” fellow senior Nyla Harris told reporters. “Her energy is contagious.”
Nivar and Harris were the only two players on this year’s roster with more than 80 games played in a Tar Heel uniform. An unfortunate result of the team losing 60% of its scoring in its transition last year.
Nivar finished the season as the Tar Heels’ leader in steals (94) and assists (130). And she established herself as one of the league’s top defenders, too, ranking second behind Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo in steals per game.
And her hard work did not go unnoticed, as she earned spots on the ACC All-Defensive Team and the All-ACC Second Team.
“She’s leaving North Carolina a leader, a winner, and a really good basketball player,” Banghart said, noting that a lot of WNBA teams could benefit from having a player like her.
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As many leaders do, Nivar shied away from reflecting too much on her own accomplishments, choosing instead to voice her pride in her teammates and all they accomplished despite playing a brutal conference slate that included four other Sweet 16 teams.
“We had a lot of new pieces this year, so even though I was on the team last year, it looked a lot different this year in my role, in how we played,” Nivar said. “So, yeah, I feel like I’m just very proud, and I hope that they can build off this next year.”
And the Tar Heels will be in a much better position to do that, boasting one of the nation’s youngest rosters with five freshmen and six sophomores. Three of the sophomores — Lanie Grant, Ciera Toomey and Elina Aarnisalo — started Friday’s game.
And Grant is coming off a particularly impressive postseason, scoring 15 and 20 points in the first two rounds, despite averaging just 10.8 points per game this season. She was held to just 3 points against UConn.
“I think this program is in a really healthy spot, and I’m proud of that,” Banghart said to end her press conference. “I know how finicky the business is and how quickly things can turn, but I feel like, especially with what we have coming in and what we have coming back, I think we’re in a better spot than where we were at this point last year.”
