By Sam Draut

Antonita Slaughter and Shoni Schimmel combined for 43 of the University of Louisville’s

82 points against Baylor in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history

last season. The two guards hit 12 of Louisville’s record 16 three-point field goals and

eventually led the Cardinals to the National Championship game.

Now seniors, they enter their final season at U of L with quite contrasting journeys.

Slaughter grew up in the Louisville area and played four years at Christian Academy

High School. In her senior year, she was named the Seventh Region Player of the Year and

earned all-state honors. The ESPN Hoops Gurlz Top 100 ranked her at 45th in the nation.

Slaughter’s career at U of L progressed slowly at first. During her freshman year she

appeared in 34 games and averaged 3.2 and 1.7 rebounds per game.

Her sophomore year, Slaughter played in 32 games and averaged 4.7 points and 3.7

rebounds per game.

The transition from a role player to a crucial component came in Slaughter’s junior year.

Known as a shooter, she saw expanded time last season and was second on the team in

minutes played and three-point field goal percentage at 35.8 percent.

Slaughter averaged 10.1 points per game and brought down 4.9 rebounds, both good for

third best on the team. She shot 85.9 percent from the free throw line, which was best.

Her shooting helped carry the team in Big East play. In a five-game stretch, she led the

team in scoring three times. She was named Big East Player of the Week during the span.

During the Cardinals tournament run, Slaughter averaged 12.1 points per game and hit

18 three-point field goals and was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team.

After the tournament run, teams will now know Slaughter’s abilities as a scorer. So,

throughout the offseason, she worked on her ability to score off the dribble to add versatility

to her game.

“Antonita Slaugther shoots the ball as well as she does, I have told her ‘you can’t expect to

be left open this year,’ there is going to be some challenges for her, but she has worked on

putting the ball on the floor. She has improved her all-around game,” Walz said.

Unlike Slaughter, Schimmel’s journey is a 2,000-mile cross-country trip. She is from

Mission, Ore. but played her final two years of high school basketball at Franklin High

School in Portland, Ore. Schimmel was ranked 8th on ESPN’s Hoop Gurlz Top 100

ranking.

As a freshman, Schimmel started at point guard and electrified crowds early with her

flashy play. She was the second leading scorer on the team with 15.1 points per game and

named to the Freshman All-American team.

Her sophomore year, she led the team in points and assists, averaging 14.3 points and 4.7

assists per game.

Schimmel saw a decrease in individual statistics last season, but the team had the most

success since she has been at U of L. She still led the team in scoring, averaging 14.2

points per game and also added 3.6 assists, but her big moments came during the NCAA

tournament.

In the NCAA tournament, Schimmel averaged 16.5 points per game and hit 13 three-
point field goals. She finished the year scoring in double figures in 30 of Louisville’s 38

games.

For the second consecutive year, Schimmel was named to the Wooden Watch List.

“I’m expecting a great year from her, she has been practicing extremely well, her

knowledge of the game, it has been a four year evolution for her, as she continues to grow,

she needs to learn from game experience, so she is figuring out time and score,” Walz said.

“She is continuing to develop, playing in the NCAA tournament really helped her, she is

starting to develop her entire game. If you want to be on the national stage you have got

to be able to do more than one thing. Our goal for her this year is a two-to-one assist-to-
turnover ratio, I think it is something she can easily obtain.”

Either Slaughter or Schimmel were the Cardinal’s leading scorers in 25 of the 38 games

last season. The two guards will once again take the floor as offensive threats for the team.

“For us to be healthy, we are excited to get out there and play basketball with the team

we have,” Schimmel said. We are showing people what we are about, we are all healthy, we

are all ready to go.”