UConn women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma has missed three games for the program this year, and is set to miss a fourth when the Huskies travel to Xavier for a date with the Musketeers on Thursday night.

Auriemma explained his decision to miss the game on Thursday morning, per Lila Bromberg of the Hartford Courant.

“It's been an extremely difficult month for me, and I've been feeling under the weather and run down,” Auriemma said. “I thought I was ready to return, but I need a little more time. I'm going to take a step back to focus on my health and will return when I feel ready.”

In Auriemma's place, associate head coach Chris Dailey will take over head coaching duties. She is 16-0 in Auriemma's absences.

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UConn is the fifth-ranked team in women's basketball this season, with a record of 12-2, and 5-0 in the BIG EAST. Xavier is 7-7 and 0-5, respectively.

The Huskies have had the Musketeers number over the years, going 5-0 all-time against their Thursday night opponents. The Huskies won both regular season matchups between the teams last season, including a 78-41 shellacking in Hartford in early January and an even more lopsided 89-35 victory in Cincinnati on Feb. 18.

Junior Aaliyah Edwards has been leading the way for UConn this season; she had 20 points, nine rebounds and three steals to lead the team past Butler, 80-47 on Tuesday. Five Huskies had double-digit points against the Bulldogs, including redshirt junior Aubrey Griffin with 15, Nika Mühl with 13, Dorka Juhász with 12 and Lou Lopez Sénéchal with 11.

The Huskies will look to keep the good times rolling this season, but will have to do it without Geno Auriemma for a fourth time.