The Northwestern women's basketball team's January games at UCLA and USC will not be rescheduled, the Big Ten announced Wednesday.
The Jan. 12 and Jan. 15 contests were originally postponed because of the wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles area. The Wildcats announced they would not travel to Los Angeles for the games on Jan. 10.
Per conference rules, forfeitures will be assessed to Northwestern, resulting in two losses in conference standings. The Bruins and Trojans each will be credited with a win.
"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 in a statement. "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. We will continue to support our Women's Basketball student-athletes and hope for a strong recovery for the Southern California region."
USC and UCLA sit atop the conference with 15-1 and 14-1 records, respectively. Northwestern has the fourth-worst record at 2-13.