Courtney Banghart, Indya Nivar Share Perspective On Women’s Hoops Playstyle

Head coach Courtney Banghart and staff relied a lot on the roster's post presence last season, but in year No. 7, things will look much different, given the new kind of personnel this past summer gave in return. Instead of Alyssa Utsby, Maria Gakdeng, Lexi Donarski, and Grace Townsend, there are now freshmen Nyla Brooks, Taliyah Henderson, Taissa Queiroz, and Liza Astakhova, along with transfers Nyla Harris and Elina Aarnisalo. This year's team will be guard-heavy, as minutes will be spread up and down the list of names in the backcourt.

Yeah. You know, we do expect to have a different look," said Banghart at the 2025 ACC Tipoff, sitting beside Reniya Kelly and Indya Nivar on stage. "You don't lose two of the best post players the league has seen in a long time and try to replace them immediately in the same way."

"So we have some posts that need to step into that opportunity. They'll play the game a little differently. They can extend the floor a little more. They can allow us to play with a little more spacing."

Then we bring back a lot of experienced guards, talented guard play, as well as what we brought in both through the portal and freshmen in recruiting. We have a good guard group that has a lot of game pressure, whereas our inside game we've got to use our nonconference, which you see scheduled, to put them to the test early so we can get as much game pressure on our youth as we can as we prepare for the gauntlet of the ACC."

North Carolina will have depth that will help keep it fresh during all four quarters of a game, and if Banghart plays her cards correctly, it could make for an effective rotation that will wear out opposing teams.

Mar 28, 2025; Birmingham, AL, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Courtney Banghart works with guard Reniya Kelly (10) during the Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament basketball game against the Duke Blue Devils at Legacy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Indya Nivar On UNC's Playstyle for 2025-2026 Campaign

Nivar, now a senior, shared her comments to the media about what she thinks of this year's roster and the abilities to know how all five positions on the floor work.

“Yeah, just very versatile. We're definitely really fast in transition. Everybody's going to be able to play different positions. Everybody in practice has to know every position to be on the court, which I feel like it's our advantage. I feel like people aren't going to be able to guard us one way. They're gonna have to guard us different ways, because people on our team bring different aspects to the game.”

On paper, these are the following players listed as a guard for UNC (besides Nivar and Kelly): Elina Aarnisalo (UCLA transfer), Sydney Barker (returnee), Nyla Brooks (freshman), Lanie Grant (returnee), Taliyah Henderson (freshman), Laila Hull (returnee), Taissa Queiroz (freshman) and Jordan Zubich (returnee).

Brooks entered the collegiate scene as the 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Virginia. The 6-foot-2 guard scored 18.3 points per game as well as grabbed 7.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists, plus 1.5 steals as a senior. Grant finished her freshman campaign in Chapel Hill last year with 7.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists — shooting 36.4 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from beyond the arc.

Last season, Nivar scored 8.3 points, brought down 4.5 rebounds and passed out two assists per game, while Kelly added 9.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists.

Junior Reniya Kelly at the 2025 ACC Tipoff | Nell Redmond/theACC.com

Banghart will have the challenge of figuring out which set of guards in the backcourt works the best and during which part of the game. Situational substitutions will be a big factor for the former Naismith National Coach of the Year. However, this is a positive problem; there are teams in the country who do not have the luxury of figuring out who will play in the backcourt — a position so important in the game of basketball — turnovers will bite a team in the back if unable to keep the ball secured, and the offense always starts with the guard(s).

Only time will tell whether or not this team can work with being a guard-heavy group; it will be able to rebound. Stop the opposing team's interior presence? Momentum can swing with a few baskets around the rim and perhaps an-1 opportunities, which is what makes the frontcourt so important, too. It all begins on November 3.