Northwestern Women's Basketball Forced to Forfeit Two Big Ten Games
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The Big Ten announced Wednesday that Northwestern women's basketball would forfeit two games against USC and UCLA that were scheduled to be played in January.
Northwestern will be given two losses in conference play, while USC and UCLA will each be given a win.
The Wildcats did not travel to Los Angeles for games on January 12 and January 15 due to wildfires ravaging the area. Rather than rescheduling the contests, the Big Ten opted to cancel them.
“Northwestern Athletics accepts the decision by the Big Ten Conference to strictly apply the Conference bylaws as written, in issuing forfeits for missed competitions by Northwestern’s Women’s Basketball after the team’s decision not to travel to Los Angeles during the tragic wildfires in Southern California," Northwestern Athletic Director Mark Jackson said.
"While we acknowledge that bylaws and rules are in place for a reason and we will abide by them, it does not diminish this team’s sound reasoning for not participating during this natural disaster," Jackson added. "We will continue to support our Women’s Basketball student-athletes and hope for a strong recovery for the Southern California region.”
The two losses will significantly influence Northwestern's race to make the Big Ten Tournament. With one regular season game remaining, the Wildcats are 9-19 overall and 2-15 in conference play.
Northwestern is tied for 15th with Rutgers and remains half of a game behind 2-14 Purdue, which holds the final tournament seed. In addition to the Wildcats winning their regular season finale against Nebraska, the Boilermakers would also have to lose their last two games to Penn State and Indiana.
Gavin Dorsey is the Lead Writer for Northwestern Wildcats On SI and covers a handful of other teams in the On SI network. Before joining On SI in February 2025, he wrote for the Star Tribune and Inside NU while broadcasting college sports for both radio and television. Dorsey is a graduate of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, where he also studied psychology. In his free time, he enjoys running and being outdoors. Dorsey is currently a freelance writer for the Associated Press, covering Chicago area sports teams.
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