A 47-42 win at Purdue was just the beginning. After two straight non-conference losses, it may have seemed unlikely, but it was the first tally in the Big Ten win column.

Then came a two-point victory at home against Michigan State that was all heart. Next, it was Iowa at home and Wisconsin and Michigan on the road. Hosting Illinois made for a leisurely Sunday afternoon, Minnesota in the Bryce Jordan Center was a triumph and a trip to Columbus was not allowed to become a letdown. The besting of Northwestern wasn't pretty, but was a win.

Pretty soon, the No. 5 Penn State women's basketball team (17-3) was 9-0 in the Big Ten conference, its best start since the 1993-94 season, and was central to all the buzz within Big Ten country.

"The bull's-eye is getting bigger," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "We're the topic of conversation in the media. 'Is it unbelievable that somebody is 9-0?' I find that question to be really strange and how people answered it was strange."

In yesterday morning's Big Ten women's basketball coaches conference call, the 'strangest' response came from Michigan State women's basketball coach Joanne McCallie. McCallie, who has been vocal about her displeasure with the officiating in the Spartans' face-off with Penn State on Jan. 4, strongly implied that the Lady Lions' 9-0 start is a result of something other than what they have produced on the court.

"Obviously, they have some pretty good players and a lot of things go their way," McCallie said. "I'm surprised [that there is a 9-0 team in the conference], but then I'm not surprised. I've seen all these teams and everybody can play; I've seen the parity, the balance. If we had won that game [at Penn State], that would have changed everything."

"There's a culture that perpetuates the same thing happening and the rest of us have just got to toughen up. [There was] a real chance for this thing to break wide open and once that didn't happen, I think people got momentum."

To this, Portland simply shook her head and chuckled in disbelief, commenting that her ladies have enough internal motivation and don't need to glean it from a comment like that. This is the year in which the women are viewing themselves differently, the year in which they refuse to lose, and that has been clear throughout all of the victories they have been forced to grit out.

Despite an undeniable bitterness, the respect that the women have gained within the conference is also undeniably present.

"They're legitimate," Indiana women's basketball coach Kathi Bennett said. "They could win the national championship."

And conference coaches know how much this start will do to propel the Lions towards first in the final conference standings.

"You gotta give [them] credit -- they did what they needed to do and they did it early," Illinois women's basketball coach Theresa Grentz said. "Usually it comes [down to] the end, but they came up early."

An undefeated start is somewhat unexpected in such a competitive conference and the women still have the hardest part of their season left, as meetings with Minnesota and Michigan State on the road and Purdue at home still remain. The Big Ten season has been perfect, and for these Lady Lions, perfect was never inconceivable.

"We always talk before the season, 'Why not go undefeated?' " senior guard Kelly Mazzante said. "Starting off with a win at Purdue, all of a sudden, our hopes were like wow. But now, being 9-0, knowing we've been in tough situations, we've been down 10 with a couple of minutes to go, we know that we can do that and everyone believes that we can do that."