MINNEAPOLIS — University of Minnesota women's basketball head coach Lindsay Whalen will be off the sidelines for a short time after undergoing emergency appendectomy surgery on Tuesday evening.
According to U of M officials, Whalen's surgery was successful but she will have to miss Thursday's game at Rutgers while she recovers.
Assistant Carly Thibault-DuDonis will serve as Minnesota's acting head coach for the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, an "appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix when it is infected. This condition is called appendicitis. Appendectomy is a common emergency surgery."
If the procedure is done laparoscopically, recovery could take just one to three weeks. If done with open surgery through an incision, recovery time would be longer, perhaps four to six weeks.
U of M officials said Whalen's health status will be updated before the Gophers home game against Maryland on Sunday.
So far this year, the Gophers are a .500 basketball team with seven wins and seven losses.
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