Daley

Just get anything involving Winnie the Pooh characters, but especially Mr. TTFN.

"I'm a big Tigger fan," Daley said. "Big, big."

Oh, but there is one thing to avoid. Poor Eeyore. Daley doesn't care so much for him.

"He's a little too depressing," she said.

Hmmm, now some of us consider Eeyore a role model, and find Piglet's frenzied narcissism more troubling. But we'll agree that Tigger can be quite inspiring, in a 110 mph kind of way. Which is why he's an appropriate object of affection for the nonstop Daley.

If you don't know much about her, that's understandable. Even though there is such a fine tradition of women's basketball in Louisiana, it just doesn't seem as if we see much of it on TV.

Sure, we see Louisiana Tech in some of its big non-conference games, such as this Sunday against Connecticut. But a lot of what Tech, LSU and Tulane do, we just read about.

And does it hurt Tulane to be No. 3 recognition-wise nationally from the state of Louisiana?

"Well, the thing is, sometimes people don't know what state Tulane is in," Green Wave coach Lisa Stockton said, chuckling.

Well, No. 24 Tulane is in a very good state. A perfect state, in fact. The Green Wave is 11-0 after winning its final game of the 1900s, a 76-72 victory at home against fellow Bayou biggie LSU (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today; No. 11 AP) on Friday.

LSU coach Sue Gunter is closing in on 600 wins, but she'll have to wait a bit longer, thanks to Daley and Co. Daley doesn't see any reason for Tulane to leave the perfect state.

"A lot of people are surprised that we're (unbeaten)," she said. "I noticed there was this poll on ESPN.com, where they asked people which undefeated team surprised them the most, and a lot of them said us.

"But I'm not surprised. We're exactly where we belong. To remain unbeaten the rest of the season is feasible."

	“	The kids have done a great job to this point. To be that consistent is the thing that I'm most proud of with this team so far. ”
		— Tulane coach Lisa Stockton

Wow, that's thinking big. But why not, when you go to school in the Big Easy?

Thing is, it will be anything but easy for Tulane to stay perfect.

Nobody's done it in the previous four seasons of Conference USA play. DePaul at 13-1 in 1996 came closest.

And even before facing LSU, Tulane was well aware of what a win over the Lady Tigers would mean.

"I think we've had a very good schedule up to this point, but to really establish ourselves, we need this kind of game," Stockton said Thursday. "This is sort of our chance to prove what we can do."

It's not that C-USA victories don't prove something, too. There is some pretty darn good basketball played in this conference. But the thing that's hurt C-USA since it began in 1995-96 is its record as a league in the NCAA Tournament. No C-USA team has gotten past the second round.

Stockton admits that's something the league has to improve -- even if it doesn't get much help in seeding from the NCAA selection committee.

"We are a better conference top to bottom than we're given credit for," Stockton said. "Some of our teams have played better in conference than in non-conference. I don't feel our champion has always gotten the respect we deserve.

"But that's the way it is. The only thing we can do is when we get in the tournament, take care of business."

You have to know how to do that to get into Tulane, which has very high academic standards. Suggest that perhaps Tulane is the Duke of the Deep South, and the Demon Deacon comes out in Stockton.

"How about the Wake Forest of the Deep South?" said Stockton, who's No. 5 on Wake's all-time scoring list at 1,347.

Loyalty to one's alma mater aside, Duke is a more apt comparison at this point -- an egghead school that's become a consistent women's basketball power. That's Tulane's goal, and if there's a year to move up a bit in the food chain, it's this one.

Daley, a senior All-America candidate, has improved on rebounding, defense and passing without it harming her greatest skill, scoring. She's a natural at that, but don't ask her why. Like all natural scorers, she really can't explain it.

"She does so much, she's really an all-around player," Stockton said, then adds, "An all-around player who scores 24 points a game."

Daley's not alone in point production, though. Center Janell Burse -- 6-5 junior whom Stockton thinks is one of the most improved players in the country -- is averaging 20.2 points and gets 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.

"I think that combination of inside-outside play is one of the huge reasons we're (unbeaten)," Stockton said. "The kids have done a great job to this point. To be that consistent is the thing that I'm most proud of with this team so far."

Mechelle Voepel of the Kansas City Star is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. She can be reached via e-mail at mvoepel@kcstar.com.