NCAAW rulebook: "Art. 7. A “no contest” is when a team does not appear at the game site because
of inclement weather, an accident, vehicle breakdown, illness, or catastrophic
cause."
I guess that's why it's a "no contest" instead of a "forfeit."
There's some additional language about "failing to fulfill a contract" not being allowed to be counted as a forfeit. The root of the language choice seems to be whether officials were on site and started the game. If so--forfeit. If not, then no game occurred = no contest.
One of the Irvine fans found the minimum squad size, per the Big West: "In the event of an issue beyond the control of the institution, a team shall be expected to honor a scheduled contest if it can field a starting line-up and a suitable number of reserves for that particular sport. A suitable number of reserves in the sport of basketball shall be three players"
I think they were down to 6 or 7 after last week's games.