Senior forward Suzanne Morrison was released from the women’s basketball team Tuesday and will not participate in the Big Ten tournament.

“She was suspended for conduct that is detrimental to the team,” Northwestern Athletic Director Mark Murphy said.

Morrison, who was told three weeks ago she would not be allowed to return to the team next year even though she has a year of eligibility remaining, said she did not break any team rules.

“I was called into a meeting with Beth Combs and Athletic Director Mark Murphy where they proceeded to tell me my career was over,” Morrison said.

Morrison said Combs brought up an article published in The Daily on Friday.

In the article, Morrison said although she had another year of eligibility and the desire to return for a fifth season, she would not be allowed to return.

“(Combs) was real heated at me,” Morrison said. “She brought up the article as one of the reasons I was suspended.”

An athletics department release said she violated team policies, but Morrison said she did not.

“It wasn’t like I was out drinking or failed a drug test,” Morrison said. “It was totally a personal choice Beth Combs made. There were no rules that were broken.”

Combs did not return multiple phone calls seeking comment.

“It was a decision that was made by Beth Combs,” Murphy said. “She thought long and hard about it.

“She felt (Morrison’s) behavior recently was detrimental to the team.”

Murphy would not describe Morrison’s infraction.

NU is set to travel to Indianapolis to play Illinois in the first round of the Big Ten tournament Thursday.

After starting the first two games of the season, Morrison came off the bench the next six games before injuring her knee in a 74-60 loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

She sat out 10 games and then was a reserve for seven contests before starting in NU’s loss to Penn State on Feb. 20.

She started both games since, including the Wildcats’ Senior Day loss to No. 15 Minnesota.

Morrison was recognized before the game, scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds in 23 minutes.

Morrison was third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.3 points per game. She also recorded 4.4 rebounds a contest.

Freshman Melissa Miller is the likely replacement at forward, as she started 23 games this season before being replaced by Morrison. Miller averages 4.1 points game and collects a team-high six rebounds.

In her three seasons with the Cats, Morrison averaged 7.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.

“I had four great years here,” Morrison said. “It’s unfortunate it had to end this way.”

Reach Abe Rakov at [email protected].