Carmichael Comments: Pack Your Bags

Carmichael Comments: Pack Your Bags
Vol. 7, No. 3
By: Matt Krause (@MattKrausePxP)

It was a busy week in Greensboro for the Tar Heels, who visited the Gate City twice in a four-day span and split a pair of games against North Carolina A&T and No. 2 UConn in two different venues. Now, the Tar Heels turn their attention to the Battle 4 Atlantis, the team's first international trip since 2021. Here's five notes and nuggets about the week that was and what's to come:

Indya Nivar's season debut yielded 15 points and nine rebounds, the second straight year in which she has had at least 15 and nine in her first game of the season.

The Tar Heels received a boost on Friday against UConn with the return of Indya Nivar. The former North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year in high school at Apex Friendship missed Carolina's first three games, but was healthy and started against the Huskies at the First Horizon Coliseum. All Nivar did was score seven of Carolina's first nine points en route to a 15-point, nine-rebound night, an arrival reminiscent of her Tar Heel debut last season against Gardner-Webb – albeit against a much higher-profile opponent. Nivar, you may remember, had 17 points and 11 rebounds in that debut against the Runnin' Bulldogs, highlighted by a buzzer-beating midcourt heave at the conclusion of the first quarter.

"Indya's really dynamic, and she's now got some experience and confidence," Carolina Head Coach Courtney Banghart said. "Those two things go a long way, and she'll continue to get better."
Nivar certainly showed flashes last season as a sophomore, highlighted by her 16-point game at Notre Dame to propel the Tar Heels to a huge road win over the Irish for the first time ever. A consistent Nivar – one who plays like she did against UConn or Notre Dame – certainly raises Carolina's ceiling.

A pair of freshmen, Ciera Toomey and Lanie Grant, played at least 21 minutes against UConn. The duo combined for 17 points and hit three of Carolina's seven three-pointers.

Tar Heel fans have known about the promise of Toomey, a former top-five recruit who had to sit out the 2023-24 season while rehabbing a preexisting injury, and Grant, who reclassified to enroll a year early for this season. While the duo are two years apart age-wise, they're now linked in the same class. Both players eclipsed the 20-minute mark for the first time against UConn, and seemed to settle in to a high-intensity game. Toomey hit a pair of threes for the first time, while Grant had a driving layup in the fourth quarter during Carolina's comeback attempt. She immediately turned to the bench and yelled "LET'S GO!" at her teammates, showing leadership beyond her 17 years.

"The more experience we can give them in road games, in competitive games, the better," Banghart said of her young players.
Laila Hull, who connected on four threes against North Carolina A&T, also saw time in the fourth quarter against UConn and hit a three.

Reniya Kelly backed up her five-steal game against North Carolina A&T by scoring nine points against UConn. She was 3-for-5 on two-point field goal attempts.

While the North Carolina A&T game marked a season-low in scoring for Reniya Kelly with just five points, she did set a career high in steals with five. Friday, Kelly engineered the Tar Heel offense for 31 of the game's 40 minutes, reaching the nine-point mark for the third time in four games. Any natural point guard is consistently toeing the line between facilitating for their teammates and having the ability to score themselves, and that's an area of focus for a healthy Kelly.

"She's really focused on what we need her to be," Banghart explained. "Offensively, she's still finding the balance on 'what are her looks?' and 'how do we get other people involved?' She's only a sophomore, but she's getting better and better."

Carolina's game against UConn was played in front of a crowd of 10,467 at the First Horizon Coliseum.

Greensboro has long done a terrific job hosting the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament, and while the event will move around a bit going forward, it will be back in its traditional home in 2025. The city has embraced women's basketball for years, and has only continued to do so in this era of explosive growth. With its central location in the state, Greensboro is an easy destination to reach for Carolina fans from all corners, and that did not go unnoticed by Banghart postgame.

"I do want to give a shout-out to the crowd," she said. "There's a lot of Carolina fans here tonight. We wanted to bring a game to Greensboro, we did that and they showed up."

The Tar Heels are 7-2 in multi-team events under Courtney Banghart, winning championships on three occasions.

Now, it's onward to the Battle 4 Atlantis, one of the premier early-season events in all of college basketball. Atlantis started a women's tournament in 2021, and Carolina will play in the event for the first time this year. Carolina has traditionally had significant success in these multi-team events (MTEs) in the Banghart era, claiming three championships. The Tar Heels won two games each in the 2019 Cancun Challenge, 2021 Goombay Splash, and 2022 Phil Knight Invitational, beating teams like No. 5 Iowa State and No. 18 Oregon in 2022, and marquee names Washington and Missouri in earlier events. These tournaments are a chance to face good competition on a neutral floor, and pick up wins that matter on a postseason résumé. The Tar Heels will try to do so again this week.

Up Next
Carolina's three games in Atlantis will begin with the program's first ever meeting with Ball State on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The Cardinals, one of the more consistent mid-majors in the country, will bring a 4-0 record into the game, which will be their first against a power conference opponent this season. On Sunday, Carolina will play either Texas A&M or Villanova, and a matchup with one of the quartet of Baylor, Columbia, Indiana, or Southern Miss will come up on Monday. Be sure to check out the full Atlantis preview edition of this column from the summer here.

THSN coverage of each game begins 30 minutes prior to tip with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show. Catch the call worldwide for free on the Varsity Network app from Learfield, GoHeels.com, or the GoHeels app. Saturday and Sunday's games will be carried per usual on 97.9 FM/1360 AM WCHL in the Triangle. We'll talk to you Saturday at 6:00 p.m. from Paradise Island!
That's all for now. Go Heels!
-Matt