Stiles Takes Shot at Breaking NCAA Career Scoring Record

Tim Donnelly doesn’t mind bad seats to watch Jackie Stiles and Southwest Missouri State.

He proudly wears his maroon and white “Lady Bears Bleacher Creature” T-shirt to every game and considers himself lucky, even though he’s high above the action.

Who can blame him? With help from Stiles, the Lady Bears are the hottest ticket in town.

“For her, it’s more about the team and the win than the personal goals,” says Donnelly, who from his seat in Section QQ has had a bird’s-eye view of every steal, fast break and 3-pointer by the 5-foot-8 guard during her SMSU career.

Close to 8,000 fans pack the Hammons Student Center each game to watch Stiles, their beloved senior star who is averaging 31.3 points a game this season and is on pace to break the NCAA career scoring record for women.

But no matter how many times she’s asked by reporters, she refuses to dwell on it.

“I don’t think about getting the record or not getting the record, I just want to help this team win games and play to the best of my God-given abilities,” she says.

Stiles--who averaged 856 points a season over the past two years--scored 16 points in a 67-61 win over Tulane on Monday and 39 in a 101-87 victory over Iowa on Thursday.

Going into the weekend, she was 564 points shy of the NCAA Division I scoring record of 3,122 set by Mississippi Valley’s Patricia Hoskins in 1989.

Perhaps it’s her modest Kansas roots that keep Stiles from getting a big head in the face of fan worship at Hammons gymnasium--a sanctuary many now call “Jackie’s House.”

Stiles admits that when she moved to Springfield from her hometown of Claflin, Kan.--population 678--she was a shy country girl with little knowledge of what life was like outside of the Wheat Belt.

She was the leading scorer in state history--boys or girls--at Claflin High, but she had a few adjustments to make in her new life at SMSU.

“In Claflin, we didn’t have any stoplights and we never locked our doors. I didn’t even know what call-waiting was before I moved here,” Stiles says. “That’s kept me grounded.”

So has her coach, Cheryl Burnett, who gets a scowl on her face anytime the word record is even mentioned.

“Jackie and I have never talked about breaking records and won’t. She knows and I know the most important thing is the team’s success,” Burnett says. “Besides, we don’t want to jinx anything.”

The top goal for coach and player this year is to win the Missouri Valley Conference--something the team has never done--and to take the Lady Bears as far as they can in the NCAA tournament. Burnett says the team has enough depth and experience this year to do just that.

“We have so many great weapons on our team that can step in when Jackie is double- or triple-teamed. And Jackie has no problem giving up the ball,” Burnett says. “She’s not a selfish player.”

The team has stumbled in the polls a bit. The Lady Bears, ranked 13th when they lost 89-82 at Oklahoma on Dec. 1, fell to 18th in The Associated Press poll.

But Stiles can’t seem to get away from all the attention. Oklahoma State coach Dick Halterman called her the “best guard playing college basketball.” And WNBA scouts have told Burnett that her star player will easily be a top 10 pick in the draft.

Stiles led the nation in scoring with 27.8 points a game last season, earning first team all-MVC honors for the third straight year. She also earned the Missouri Valley Conference Most Valuable Player award for the second year in a row.

Even her coach confides that Stiles has amazed her more and more each year.

“Jackie has always been incredible with a basketball in her hands, and she has given us so many incredible performances here. Even as a coach, it has been a joy for me to get to watch her play,” Burnett said.

Stiles says she’s looking forward to a possible career in the WNBA but will miss college basketball and the crowds at Hammons.

The feeling is mutual.

“She brings us to our feet, she’s total excitement. And she’s also a great role model,” said fan Ben Schumacher, who brings 6-year-old daughter Abby to every game. “She’s going to be a hard one to replace.”