National | Sports

Umatilla sisters head to final game of NCAA basketball tourney

Monday, April 8, 2013

[Video: Louisville players on their victory over Cal]
Two sisters from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon are heading to the final game of the NCAA women's basketball championship.

University of Louisville junior Shoni Schimmel and sophomore Jude Schimmel helped their team come from behind to defeat the California Golden Bears on Sunday night. They will face the University of Connecticut Huskies for the NCAA title.

“It doesn’t even feel realistic yet, but we’re ready to take on anything,” Shoni Schimmel told reporters after last night's game.

The Schimmels have inspired a sense of pride in Indian Country, where basketball teams from reservations routinely win state championships. As two of a handful of Native American players at the college level, the sisters are making history.

“I don’t think I’ve heard of any Native American women getting to the Final Four, especially being the biggest part of the team," Ryneldi Becenti, a member of the Navajo Nation who is the only female basketball player in the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame, told The New York Times.

Shoni was featured in Off The Rez, a 2011 documentary about her basketball career. Discovery's Fit and Health Network will air the film on Tuesday at 6pm Eastern time.

Get the Story:
Cardinals Win and Big East Celebrates (The New York Times 4/8)
Double bonus for Cardinals! Louisville women headed to final too (The Louisville Courier-Journal 4/8)
Far From Reservation, Sisters Lead Louisville (The New York Times 4/7)
Win leads to vows: Rick Schimmel and Ceci Moses decided to marry after U of L's win (The Louisville Courier-Journal 4/5)