Saniya Rivers embraces point guard role in NC State win over UNC

Saniya Rivers does not like to yell. NC State’s star point guard sat and the post game podium after defeating North Carolina 63-59 Thursday night and broke down her evolution as a player in a calm, monotone voice.

On the court throughout this season, she has showcased a different side of her personality that she cultivated over her 1.5 seasons with the Wolfpack. When Rivers sees something going wrong, she corrects NC State’s course with the authority that her on-court presense commands.

The junior guard grew into that role as she embraced the starting point guard job this season. To captain the No. 5 team in the country, Rivers knew she needed to step up when adversity hit.

She finished Thursday’s win with 14 points, a team-leading 9 rebounds and 4 assists. When the Tar Heels took the lead in the fourth quarter and kept the game within 6 points for the whole period, she rose to the moment.

“As the leader and the point guard on this team, you have to know when to calm it down,” Rivers said. “Their job is to speed us up defensively. Obviously, they’re down, trying to get some point scored, but we can’t let them speed us up in moments like that, and I think we stayed composed.”

The Wolfpack won its fourth-consecutive ACC game Thursday night, vaulting up to the No. 3 spot in the league standings. Rivers said she is very comfortable in her point guard role right now.

Last year, if a player was not in the right spot, he hesitated to say anything. Now, she has no problem taking control over the offense.

“I don’t like yelling at people… But when it comes to crunch time and I have to get my teammates in order or whatever, I do what I’ve got to do,” Rivers said.

That growth showed up against North Carolina when she directed senior guard Madison Hayes through a play in the fourth quarter, leading to a game-changing corner three that extended the Pack lead to 4 less than 2 minutes after UNC took its final lead of the game.

NC State contained the Tar Heels in the fourth period, holding the visitors to 12 or fewer points for the third time over four quarters. Rivers played a huge part in that final stand, forcing a jump ball with the possession arrow pointing towards the Pack as the clock stopped at 26.1 seconds remaining.

In the program’s most recent showdowns against Clemson and Boston College, the guard recorded a total of 14 steals. Rivers forced 2 turnovers against the Tar Heels, and the junior said this was a “pretty solid” defensive performance.

Graduate forward Mimi Collins sat beside her in the press conference and said that the junior point guard should be the ACC’s defensive player of the year.

“I’m a big believer that defense wins ballgames,” Rivers said.

Head coach Wes Moore emphasized after the game that Rivers took on this new role from the start of the season. NC State makes it very clearthat this is a player-led group, and that often starts with its point guard.

“You need your best players to be your leaders,” Moore said. “You can talk all you want about this or that, but you need your best players to set a great example, get there early, put in extra shots, put in extra time and then do the little things out there on the court so that you can then hold other people accountable.”

This is Rivers’ second time going through the ACC gauntlet and, the season before that, she contributed to a national championship squad at South Carolina. She understands the grind of college basketball.

While the team will enjoy Thursday’s rivalry win, the guard said the team will be ready to turn this intensity around and prepare for No. 16 Louisville.

“When it comes to Saturday, we’ve got to lock in and learn this new team, lock in on film and we’ll be ready when Monday comes,” Rivers said.