UConn’s tradition of playing homecoming games for its seniors will take it to Toronto on Wednesday in honor of 6-foot-3 forward Aaliyah Edwards, who is from Kingston, Ontario, and played for Canada in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The No. 17 Huskies (8-3) will meet Toronto Metropolitan at 6 p.m. (FS2) in what is UConn’s third game in five days before heading home for the holidays. The game will count toward UConn’s season record and individual statistics but will not count with regard to its NCAA NET rankings, which determine seeding in the NCAA tournament.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said the Huskies were originally set to play Pittsburgh in Toronto, but when Pitt changed coaches, the deal fell through.

“It was easy in the beginning because we were able to find a team that had players from up there or had recruited players from up there,” Auriemma said. “Then when that fell through, then it became very difficult.

“It wouldn’t have been so difficult to say, ‘We need one more game, let’s find that game.’ But, ‘Hey, we need a game but we need it to be played in Toronto,’ that’s not the easiest thing in the world.”

The Huskies traveled to Zagreb, Croatia, on their European Tour in August, home of senior guard Nika Muhl, and also played a game at Gampel Pavilion against Ball State and Muhl’s younger sister Hana. They also played at Minnesota, which is the home state of redshirt junior guard Paige Bueckers.

Edwards, a first team All-Big East pick last year and the Big East tournament Most Outstanding Player, has played 112 games in her UConn career. She is averaging 16.0 points and 8.0 rebounds this season.

“You do these things because there’s a value to it that goes beyond what you want to get out of it,” Auriemma said. “What you want to get out of it is, ‘Hey, this is our program, this is our brand, this is who we are.’

“Aaliyah’s helped us for four years now and have fun, celebrate the whole thing.”