Friday, March 30, 2001
Stiles steps into national spotlight
Record scorer leads Southwest Missouri State into Final Four
By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer
Jackie Stiles (center) and teammates celebrate after winning the West Regional.
(AP photo)
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ST. LOUIS — About 10 minutes remained in Southwest Missouri State's Final Four practice session Thursday when coach Cheryl Burnett pulled her players off the floor. All except Jackie Stiles.
Her prolific scoring is the reason the Lady Bears (29-5) emerged from the mid-major Missouri Valley Conference and made it to the national stage as a No. 5 seed.
The rest of the session became a personal shootaround for Stiles. Fans clapped rhythmically as the 5-foot-8 guard drained shot after shot from the perimeter, and when the show was over they gave her a standing ovation.
“This is definitely very wild,” Stiles said. “It's been quite a ride.”
Big Ten regular-season champion Purdue (30-6) is the latest team that will try to control the NCAA women's career scoring leader, who is averaging 30.6 points, on Friday night. Coach Kristy Curry isn't sure that can be done.
Stiles, who set the NCAA career scoring record earlier this month, has 3,371 points after getting 32 in the West Regional final against Washington.
“Can you stop her?” Curry asked. “No one has stopped her. But we're going to try.”
Good luck. Stiles, who has a very quick first step on the drive and an accurate 3-point shot, has done it all.
“We have seen basically, I would think, everything this season,” Burnett said. “If we haven't seen it, I don't know for sure what it could be.”
Burnett began recruiting Stiles, from the tiny town of Claflin, Kan., at age 12. In the last month, the nation has discovered Stiles, too. Despite her celebrity, Stiles is having no trouble concentrating.
“Your ultimate dream is to play in the Final Four, and you are the most focused you have to be, because that's what it is all about,” she said. “You just have to come in here and try to get the distractions out of your mind.”
But there's more to Southwest Missouri — making only its second trip to the Final Four — than just Stiles. Tara Mitchem scored 23 points and had a perfect shooting game, going 7-for-7 from the field, 3-for-3 from 3-point range and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line against Washington.
“I think the thing everybody gets focused on is Jackie, Jackie, Jackie,” Curry said. “Southwest Missouri came because they have a great team.”
Purdue, which emerged from the Mideast Regional as the No. 3 seed, has a better pedigree. The Boilermakers are making their second Final Four appearance in three years — they won it all in 1999 — and have taken 11 of their last 12 NCAA tournament games.
Purdue has more of a 1-2 punch than Southwest Missouri with All-America forward Katie Douglas (15.2 points, 3.7 assists) and 6-4 center Camille Cooper (14.4 points, 6.4 rebounds).
Both Douglas and Cooper were starters and major contributors on Purdue's title team.
“No question, it's a huge advantage,” Curry said. “We are definitely going to draw on our experiences.”
Douglas has persevered despite a number of problems, physical and otherwise. Both of her parents died of cancer since she arrived at school and she also recovered from ankle surgery after last season.
“If I had one word to describe Katie Douglas, she is just a soldier,” Curry said. “Sometimes things may get rough on the court and things may not be going our way, but we can all look at Katie and say if she can overcome what she's overcome, we can handle this 40 minutes of basketball.”
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Stiles steps into national spotlight
