Hartford — Fans would come to watch the juggernaut UConn women's basketball program play a season ago during the Huskies' run to a record 10th national title and invariably look at the 6-foot-5 former Big East Rookie of the Year on the bench with just a tad bit of curiosity.

Natalie Butler was one of the rare transfers welcomed into the program under the watch of Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma. Wether it's the absolute gaudy numbers she put up as a freshman at Georgetown, or the fact that the Huskies swung and missed in their pursuit of top high school post players like Stanford's Erica McCall, South Carolina's A'ja Wilson and Baylor incoming freshman Lauren Cox, Butler has created more buzz before playing in her first game at UConn than any player in recent memory.

At various points in December, it looked like Butler would finally make her debut with the Huskies after a season of sitting per NCAA transfer regulations and more time on the sidelines with an injured thumb.

Finally, in UConn's final game of 2015, it was Butler's time to make her long-awaited first impression.

It was worth the wait as Butler finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 15 minutes in a 107-45 win at Cincinnati. She followed that up with four points, three rebounds and two blocked shots in eight minutes against Tulsa in her home debut.

"It was definitely OK, I definitely wanted to get on the court,'" Butler said. "At the same time I know it is going to take time to get back in the flow, especially since I was out for such a long time. What I have learned is that patience is a big part of going through an injury. I am glad I waited and I am glad Coach (Auriemma) waited because I had a really great first game and I was glad that was my start to the season. I am happy with it, I will continue with it and get better."

Butler still has to wear a splint to protect her injured thumb, and there are times when she fumbles a rebound or doesn't have the proper feel for the ball when a teammate throws her the ball in a scoring position.

"It is going to take a while for Nat to get caught up," Auriemma said. "When you miss as much as she missed and still dealing with the thumb thing, she is not a 100 percent yet. But for the minutes that she plays, she is getting a lot done."

Butler left Tuesday's practice a little early for a follow-up appointment on her thumb. While she received a positive report, she still had to wear the splint against Tulsa and will do so again when the Huskies kick off a three-game road trip at Houston on Friday (9 p.m., ESPN2).

"Everything looks great. There are no issues with it and as of right now. I have to continue wearing this splint," Butler said. "Hopefully I can work my way off of it towards the end of the season.

"It was definitely an adjustment for me and it still is. I have to continue to stay focused on it and stay focused on catching the ball. My teammates have been really patient with me in working with me so they have helped me with that."

During her redshirt season, Butler would only play alongside the male practice players rather than to take minutes away from the Huskies who would be able to take part in games. This season she is starting to get accustomed to playing alongside Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and the rest of the top-ranked Huskies.

"You get a lot less reps offensively (during the redshirt season), so you are more just working on defense and conditioning, trying to learn our system," said UConn assistant coach Marisa Moseley, who works with UConn's post players. "We can't put you out there because that means you are taking away from somebody who actually can play. Now she can be on the Blue (starting) team, get those reps, she can feel comfortable playing with all different combinations of players so I think that makes a huge difference.

"Her mindset is really good right now. She is motivated to get better. She came here for the right reasons, she wants to get better. You come off the Big East Rookie of the Year and then you have to sit an entire year and then more with the injury, so that was kind of ill-timed, but I think it makes you even hungrier. She just has an incredible work ethic. She wants to get better and since she has gotten here, she has gotten better. She is a really unselfish player, so sometimes she is looking to make plays for somebody else instead of going in there, burying somebody and get two points, but every day we are chipping away from that and she is getting much better."

Butler ranked fifth nationally with an average of 13.3 rebounds per game and her 24 double-doubles were tied for ninth among Division I players in her lone season at Georgetown. Her coaches and teammates are pushing Butler to not be so quick to defer to her teammates, even if they are All-Americans and stars on national championship teams.

"She is a very hard worker, she is always trying to be better and I think that is what makes her a special player because she always tries to improve," Tuck said. "She brings us a big post presence. I can't emulate what she can do because of her sheer size."