Friday's Gophers women's basketball home game against Northwestern was canceled Monday because multiple members of the Wildcats team are in COVID-19 protocols.
Gophers women's basketball vs. Northwestern on Friday is canceled
Northwestern has players in COVID-19 protocols, so the teams are looking into rescheduling.
December 27, 2021 at 9:46PM
Though the game has been termed a cancellation, both programs said they are working with the Big Ten Conference to reschedule.
Northwestern canceled its game against Clemson last Tuesday with players in the COVID protocol. With multiple members of the Wildcats program still subject to COVID protocols from that game, the team made the decision not to play at Williams Arena.
Both schools said that information regarding how this game will be treated in relation to the Big Ten's forfeiture policy would be announced in the coming days.
That policy, released in August, said that any game unable to be played because of COVID-19 on one team would be considered a forfeit and a loss for that team in the conference standings, meaning the Gophers would earn a Big Ten victory for the cancellation.
However, last week, Dr. James Borchers, the Big Ten chief medical officer, said the Big Ten is reconsidering that policy. Conferences such as the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 and Mountain West have already rescinded their similar policies in the wake of COVID outbreaks.
Fans can exchange tickets for Friday's game for any future Gophers women's basketball game. The team's next scheduled game is Jan. 6 at Rutgers, followed by a home game against No. 6 Maryland on Jan. 9.
Minnesota, ranked first in the nation, dealt with injury and absence against No. 3 Michigan State.
