STORRS — Graduate transfer Kaitlyn Chen was used to playing in a defense-focused system during her four years with Princeton, but when she joined the UConn women’s basketball team last spring, she quickly discovered that the Huskies’ full-court pressure was a different beast entirely.

It took some time to adjust, but the fifth-year point guard has come to love aggressive style — especially the opportunities it helps create on the offensive end.

“We never really pressed at Princeton … so it’s definitely sort of fun taking those risks in games and when they pay off,” Chen said with a grin. “Here we’re able to put a lot more pressure on other teams, so it’s a lot of fun to speed other teams up and force them to take bad shots, because then we get easy transition baskets on the other end.”

The No. 6 Huskies are among the best defensive teams in college basketball this season behind that stifling press, ranking No. 2 in the country in scoring defense giving up just 51.6 points per game. They hold opponents to an average 35.5% shooting from the field, which ranks 14th nationally, and they are also in the top 20 in scoring margin, turnover margin and total steals.

In Big East play, UConn (20-2, 11-0) is even more dominant: The Huskies are outscoring conference foes by nearly 33 points and generating almost 10 more turnovers per game than they allow. They will have another opportunity to show off at the XL Center on Sunday (1 p.m., SNY) when they host Butler (12-11, 2-8), which enters the matchup with the second-worst turnover margin in the league.

“If you see some of the games where we play our best basketball, it’s because our transition games is really, really on that day, and that comes because defensively we force more turnovers or get out on the break more on defensive rebounds,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “I think defensively, we’ve been pretty consistent. That’s been the one thing that I’ve been really happy about, and as long as we can do that, then the other stuff I always think will take care of itself.”

There are only three defensive categories where UConn does not lead the Big East: 3-point defense, rebounding defense and blocked shots. Though they still rank top three in all three stats, the Huskies have struggled to find a consistent presence in the post all season between redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy and redshirt sophomore Ice Brady. Both players have gotten opportunities in the starting lineup this season with El Alfy currently holding the spot, and both are currently averaging less than 20 minutes per game.

The young centers will face a key test against Butler, which boasts the No. 1 rebounding defense in the conference at a higher offensive rebounding percentage than the Huskies. Butler is led by Belmont transfer Kilyn McGuff, daughter of Ohio State women’s basketball coach Kevin McGuff, averaging a near double-double with 11.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.

“We don’t even have to be great, but we have to be better at it than we are right now. We have to be able to count on them, both defensively rebounding-wise and getting us a couple easy baskets, and it’s been just fair at best,” Auriemma said. “I don’t think Ice likes being in the lane … She’s more comfortable facing the basket from 17 feet and shooting the ball. And I think Jana’s stubborn, man. It’s hard to get through to her a lot of times.”

The Huskies expect to have more depth in the front court as Aubrey Griffin continues to reacclimate to playing at game speed. The sixth-year senior returned to the court for UConn on Jan. 19, more than a year after her season-ending ACL tear, and has averaged 3.3 rebounds in 11 minutes over her first three appearances, but Auriemma said he hopes to ramp up her participation over the coming weeks.

“I watch her in practice and there’s sparks. There’s some good moments where it looks really, really promising,” Auriemma said. “Right now, her best asset for us is offensive rebounding and getting us another possession. We’ve tried to do a little more full-court stuff in practice to take advantage of some of the stuff that she can do, so hopefully as we go along, we can get her more involved.”