Normally the subject of setting a record draws little more than an indifferent yawn from reigning national player of the year Breanna Stewart.

However, when it comes to being a part of chasing down one of her own records, the UConn junior forward seems a bit more interested in being a part of history.

A season ago, Stewart teamed with Stefanie Dolson and Kiah Stokes to help the Huskies shatter the single-season program record with 324 blocks.

The second-ranked Huskies head into today's American Athletic Conference game against East Carolina at the XL Center (7 p.m., SNY) leading the nation with 7.9 blocks per game. However, if the Huskies block shots at their current rate, they would fall well short of last year's total.

Stewart's 110 blocks as a sophomore was the third-highest total ever at UConn. With 41 blocks through 19 games, she won't reach last year's total. But Stokes is on pace to shatter the individual single-season program record set by Rebecca Lobo in 1993-94.

"I'm a little behind right now; she is a little far ahead of me," Stewart said. "It is a competition and we were talking about how we broke the record last year. We have to average at least 10 shots per game, but it is possible. That is something we would like to see happen."

UConn has blocked at least 10 shots in seven games this season, including a program-record 19 in a win over Vanderbilt. Regardless of the final number, UConn's ability to block shots has become a key cog in shutting down opposing offenses.

Following the 2002 departure of Asjha Jones, who was fifth on UConn's career list at the time of her graduation, the block was not a part of the Huskies' defensive game plan until the arrival of Tina Charles in 2006. Ever since, the Huskies have had at least one player among UConn's top 10 in career blocks on the roster.

"We really haven't changed a lot from what we were doing before," coach Geno Auriemma said. "We have extended a little bit of our defense, but other than that, it hasn't really changed that much. It's not like because we have those shot blockers we have encouraged people to drive it into the lane for us. I think the fact why Kiah has so many blocked shots is that our guards are just so bad at keeping the ball in front of them."

With 83 blocks in 19 games, Stokes already has the eighth-highest total in UConn history and is six shy of the career-best mark she posted in 39 games a season ago. If she maintains her current pace, she would break Lobo's record of 131 blocks in the regular-season finale against South Florida. Stokes had a run of five straight games with at least six blocks snapped when she had "only" three in Sunday's win over Cincinnati.

"She has built a lot of confidence in the last four years in blocking shots, but especially in (recent) games she has been very successful at that," Auriemma said. "So when she comes into the game, she is headhunting for blocked shots and at the same time being smart defensively."

Stokes is happy to just contribute on the defensive end of the court.

"We want to make sure nobody can score in the paint," Stokes said. "If we do our job, that is what happens and they are forced to take jump shots. So as long as we box out and keep them out of the lane, I think that really helps our defense."