Pepperdine Tourney Cancelled Due to Wildfires
November 24, 2007 | Women's Basketball
The Pepperdine Women's Basketball Tournament in which the Badger team was competing has been officially cancelled. Wildfires which broke out at 3:30 a.m. local time in the Malibu, Calif., area forced the cancellation which was announced by Pepperdine University officials at 10 a.m. local time.
UW was scheduled to meet Texas-Arlington in the championship final today at 3 p.m. CST. The Badgers beat the University of Mississippi, 74-57, Friday to earn the championship berth. Wisconsin's team hotel is located a safe distance from the fires and completely out of harms way. Smoke from the fires can be seen rising from the mountains some distance from the hotel.
Pepperdine University is the command post for all the fire crews. The flames are about a mile from Firestone Fieldhouse where the tournament was being played. The Pepperdine students were evacuated from the dorms earlier today, but have since returned to their residence halls.
The Santa Anna winds are blowing at about 50 miles per hour, and the humidity is in single digits, conditions that are similar to the fires which devastated Malibu a month ago. The Pepperdine campus still shows the charred effects of the devastation. Today 's fire is not far from the area previously burned and has engulfed over 2,500 acres.
Not playing a game today pales in its importance to the sadness of people whose lives will be forever changed by these fires. We certainly hope there will be no loss of life and that the fires can be contained as soon as possible.
The Badgers will return to Madison Sunday to prepare to face Virginia in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Friday at 6 p.m. CST in Charlottesville, Va.
