Women’s college basketball gets underway in November.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Lexi Foreman will begin her rookie season at the University of Central Oklahoma. Meanwhile, in Florida and not far from STOF reservations, Nova Southeastern University (Kyarrah Grant) and Florida Gulf Coast University (Milan Schimmel) also feature Native American players.

LEXI FOREMAN

After starring for Anadarko High School in Oklahoma, Lexi Foreman (Seminole Tribe/Kiowa/Sac and Fox) has begun the next chapter in her basketball career at UCO, whose first game is Nov. 12 at home in Edmond against Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

Foreman, a 5-foot-9 guard, is one of five true freshmen on a young squad that also includes three redshirt freshmen and five sophomores. Coming off a 14-9 season, UCO has been picked by the league’s 14 head coaches and media to finish fifth in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

Foreman has played in several Native tournaments in Florida and around the country with Seminole Tribe teams.

In high school, Foreman was a key starter for Anadarko. She helped the team win a state championship as a sophomore.

She is the daughter of Matt and Alicia Foreman.  

KYARRAH GRANT

Nova Southeastern, which features Kyarrah Grant (Navajo/Choctaw), will open its season far from its Davie home. The Sharks will face Canada’s Simon Fraser University on Nov. 5 in the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at the Trailhead in Billings, Montana.

It will be NSU’s first game since March 3, 2020. The team did not play in the 2020-21 season due to the pandemic.

NSU’s first home game is Nov. 12 against St. Augustine’s University of Raleigh, N.C. The Sharks have been picked to finish fifth in the Sunshine State Conference by the league’s 11 head coaches.

Grant, a 5-foot-7 redshirt sophomore guard, previously played for the University of Tennessee at Martin in the 2018-19 season. She redshirted the 2019-20 season.

Earlier in her career, Grant played for Seminole Tribe teams at NAYO, including on a team with her former NSU teammate Skyla Osceola.

In high school, she helped Choctaw Central win multiple state championships.

MILAN SCHIMMEL

Milan Schimmel (Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation), who grew up on the west coast of the U.S., has returned to Florida for the second time in her college career.

Schimmel is in her first season with Florida Gulf Coast University, which is the preseason pick by coaches and media to win the ASUN Conference. The Eagles have made the NCAA Tournament seven times in their Division I history, including last season when they went 26-3 and bowed out in the first round of the tournament with a loss to Michigan. FGCU will start its season Nov. 9 at home in Fort Myers against Florida Memorial at 5 p.m.

Schimmel played last season for the University of Cincinnati. She averaged five points and four rebounds in 14 games. Previously, she played at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne. She began her college career at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.

She has two years of eligibility remaining.

Schimmel’s older sisters Jude and Shoni starred at the University of Louisville and helped the Cardinals reach the 2013 NCAA championship game.