On Senior Day, UNC Leans on Veterans to Defeat Duke

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — In the speech Indya Nivar delivered during her senior night banquet ceremony to friends and family on Saturday night, the three-year UNC guard focused on two themes that have defined her time in Chapel Hill: resilience and connectedness. 

Using Nivar’s own words, head coach Courtney Banghart reminded the Tar Heels of those traits during late-game huddles against Duke, where she urged her group to stay united and withstand the relentless back-and-forth battle of Sunday’s contest.

“It was just kind of a heavyweight fight,” Banghart said after the game. “And we said, ‘Anything for our seniors.’ Well, prove it. And they did.” 

Befittingly, No. 21 North Carolina leaned on its veteran playmaking throughout its senior day victory, defeating No. 12 Duke, 74-69, to extend the Tar Heels’ win streak to five straight over the Blue Devils in Carmichael Arena. The senior duo of Nyla Harris and Nivar combined for 28 points, 14 rebounds and several key plays down the stretch to secure a win in the final regular-season home game of their UNC careers. 

“I’ve kind of come to expect it,” Banghart said about her two seniors. “The team has sort of formed into their fearlessness and leadership, and I’m so happy for them. I mean, it’s hard to win on senior night (given) the emotions.”

It didn’t take long for the pair of veterans to put their mark on their final home outing. Nivar kept North Carolina within arm’s reach despite a poor start offensively that put the Tar Heels in a 10-3 hole by the first media timeout. Had it not been for the guard’s ability to cause three turnovers in the early minutes — a pair of steals and a drawn charge — UNC could have found itself in an early double-figure deficit. 

Instead, her effort bought time for the offense to settle in. Harris soon followed, scoring six quick points with effective pick-and-roll execution.

“I will miss (Nivar) more than you know,” Banghart said. “Her ability to be disruptive, active and attentive, and concentrate and do it for so many minutes is remarkable. I just don’t worry about the other team’s best players. As long as Indya is in the game, she’ll handle it.” 

While Nivar set the tone early, Harris took control in the second half, scoring 13 of her 19 points after the break. The 6-foot-2 center battled Duke’s Toby Fournier in the post throughout the afternoon, limiting her to 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field.

What impressed Banghart most, however, was Harris’s work on the glass. After she allowed Duke to grab an offensive rebound off a missed free throw early in the game, Harris tightened up her rebounding effort. She didn’t just do a good job altering shots, but finished the possessions by securing the rebound after misses.

“We missed that free throw block out, and we sort of at that time out were like, ‘you said anything. That wasn’t anything,’” Banghart said.  “And so there was a will to get the ball today, because she had to defend and rebound.”

In crunch time, the seniors also delivered. With North Carolina trailing by one inside the final five minutes, Banghart said the Tar Heels felt a “gut check” during the last media timeout huddle. But looking to its leadership, Nivar and Harris came up massive over a gritty final stretch to secure the victory for UNC. 

Continuing to play well in their defensive assignments, Nivar recorded another clutch steal for North Carolina to deny Duke from getting Ashlon Jackson the ball in critical minutes. Likewise, Harris won her battle in the post, securing several massive rebounds that kept Duke from scoring a field goal for over three minutes down the stretch and punished the Blue Devils for missing six of their seven shots late in the game.

Even more important, Harris handled the extra physicality as Duke grew desperate late. She drew seven fouls in total and got the Blue Devils’ starting frontcourt to foul out as she made all six of her free throws in the fourth quarter to put away the contest.

“I always talk about how when you have heavyweight fights like this, it’s a rock fight, and you’ve got to bring your rock,” Banghart said. “And when you bring Indya and Nyla Harris to a rock fight, you’ ‘vegot a good shot.”