More than 1,500 Native Americans -- including 60 from the Muscogee Nation -- turned out in force to cheer on two college basketball standouts.

The University of Louisville held a Native American Appreciation Night on Monday night. Native fans were eager to support senior Shoni Schimmel and junior Jude Schimmel, sisters from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

“It’s an honor to be here,” Meske Wind, who helped bring the Muscogee delegation to the game despite treacherous conditions on the 700-mile journey, told The Louisville Post-Courier. “That’s the neat thing; the show of support from the Native community for them.”

The Lady Warriors, a basketball team from the Lac du Flambeau Band, were there too. Players, parents and family members came all the way from Wisconsin to see the Schimmel sisters in action.

"They're great role models for my niece and all of my cousins, everybody, all the Native Americans look up to," Ashlee Allen told WLKY.

Louisville, ranked number 3, fell to top-ranked Connecticut at the game.

Get the Story:
Native Americans throng to Louisville women's basketball game to cheer on Schimmel sisters (The Louisville Post-Courier 3/4)
Native Americans rally to cheer on Schimmel sisters (WLKY 3/3)