The Northwestern basketball female team will have to lose two of the matches on its calendar after not having traveled to Los Angeles during devastating forest fires in January.
The Big Ten conference announced on Wednesday that Northwestern’s matches against the UCLA on January 12 and the USC on January 15 will not be reprogrammed and will count in place of losses for Wildcats and victories for programs based in South California.
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People watch the smoke and flames of palisades in the Pacific Palisades district on January 7, 2025 in Los Angeles. (Images Tiffany Rose / Getty)
The director of northwest athletics, Mark Jackson, published a statement supporting his team’s decision not to travel during fires, and accepted the Big Ten decision.
“Northwestern Athletics accepts the decision of the Big Ten conference to strictly apply the statutes of the conference such as writings, by issuing packages for missed competitions in the Northwestern women’s basketball after the team’s decision not to go to Los Angeles during tragic forest fires in southern California,” wrote Jackson.
“Although we recognize that the statutes and rules are in place for a reason and that we are conducting it, this does not decrease the solid reasoning of this team for not having participated during this natural disaster. We will continue to support our students of women’s basketball and hope for a strong recovery for the southern California region.”
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California’s southern goalkeeper Juju Watkins signed autographs after the Northridge of Cal State match on November 12, 2024 in Los Angeles. (AP photo / Ryan Sun)
The UCLA and the USC, led by the Juju Watkins phenomenon, were already the two most winning teams of the conference so far this season. The USC is first in the Big Ten with a conference record of 15-1 because the UCLA is second with 14-1.
Meanwhile, Northwestern is in 15th place with a conference record of 2-13, and is fighting against Purdue, Rutgers and Penn State for the last place of the Big 10 tournament.
The Sunset Fire burns in the Hollywood Hills region in Los Angeles on January 8, 2025. (Jill Connelly / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The fires had an impact on several sporting events in the Los Angeles and Anaheim region in January, including an eliminatory match between the Los Angeles Rams and the Vikings of Minnesota, and the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers NBA games.
Local sports teams of the city donated more than $ 8 million to support victims of forest fires. These teams included the Anaheim Ducks, Angel City FC, Lafc, La Galaxy, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Loaders, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Kings, Los Angeles LakersLos Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Sparks.
