UNC WBB ACC Tipoff Breakout Interviews: Reniya Kelly & Indya Nivar

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Reniya Kelly and Indya Nivar accompanied Courtney Banghart in Charlotte on Monday for the ACC Tipoff media event.

Kelly returns to North Carolina after averaging 9.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game as a sophomore, all improvements from her freshman season. She shot a team-high 41.2% from 3-point range. Kelly played and started in 33 games for North Carolina last season and earned All-ACC Second Team honors.

Nivar returns for her senior season, and her third year with the Tar Heels. She averaged 8.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, two assists and a team-high two steals per game in 34 games, setting career-high averages across the board. Nivar spent her first season at Stanford before transferring to Banghart’s Tar Heels in 2023.

Watch these breakout interviews from Kelly and Nivar, and read some noteworthy excerpts…

Indya Nivar

“(The program) definitely has grown each year. And it helps when we make it further every year as well, and just to see how passionate the fans are. It goes from the donors to the random people that want to come to our game, to the students. They all love us, and they support us on and off the court and want us to want to see us succeed. I love our fan base because of that support, and they just make it so fun to play in Carmichael.”

“This last year, knowing that I want to go to the next level is the main thing. This offseason, I was very intentional in the way that I prepared for this season. I had my trainer, and we worked on every skill that I wasn’t really good this past season. Wanted to get better at my finishing, my handling, and then also being able to run the point, handling the ball, reading defenses. Just being able to slow the game down, preparing for the next level.”

“I’m just a competitor at heart, so I hate when people score on me. It sometimes gets me in trouble because then I end up fouling sometimes. But no, just making it difficult for the other team, because it’s whoever scores the most. And I don’t want them to score too many points. I love playing defense. It’s definitely something I take pride in.”

Reniya Kelly

“I really got intentional with my relationship with God, and it kind of changed my whole perspective quite honestly, I wasn’t really focused on the highs and lows of the game. I knew I had a firm foundation, a solid foundation. I didn’t worry about the outside noise or how this is gonna work, how it’s gonna be. God was going to figure it out, and He did. And I had no pressure. I played pressure free, like I was just hooping, quite honestly. So I think that really changed my game, and it still is going to change my game this year as well.”

“(Playing with other guards is) definitely going to expand my game more, because I can be a scorer instead of a facilitating PG. I’m just so excited that I have Elina (Aarnisalo) and I have Lanie (Grant) who can play the one this year. It’s gonna be great. I’m excited to expand my game and be more of a shooter, a combo guard. I feel like last year, I was mainly a PG and I love the PG spot, that’s my love, but I’m excited to be a combo guard as well this year.”

“The mentality every year is to win, but I think this team is so different because we’re so young, but we do have some vets. But it’s just a different team. And so I think this year, instead of focusing on getting to March Madness or being whatever it may be, I think we’re taking it day-by-day right now. And so one day it may be just defending, one day it may be running fast. It doesn’t matter. But I think this team is gonna be different because we’re taking it day-by-day, practice-by-practice, game-by-game. And so the mentality is really just, ‘Be about it, don’t just talk about it.’”