Stiles completely carried SMS throughout the game, but never more so than in the final minutes when she scored in more way than could be imagined. Long treys, stunning spin moves, driving layups, free throws - nothing was beyond her grasp.

And with her team trailing 86-83 with just a few seconds remaining she hit a trey from five feet behind the arc and then canned a free throw to put her squad up 87-86.

Stiles' performance was one for the ages. She set an SMU school record for points in a game and scored more than any player who has ever played Baylor. She went 19-of-26 from the field, but more importantly, scored 16 of her team's final 21 points.

"I don't think Pete Maravich shot any better than that," coach Sonja Hogg said of the former NCAA scoring record holder. "I saw him in person, and he didn't shoot any better. I've never seen a better shooter. You have to see her to believe her."

"This is the best game I've ever played," Stiles, the daughter of a former high school basketball coach, said. "My teammates set great screens and did a great job of getting me the ball in scoring position. The shots were just falling."

Kacy Moffitt and Monica Arnold did Baylor's early scoring. Arnold opened it up with a drive to the basket and Moffitt followed with a shot in the lane. Arnold then came back for a six-footer and Moffitt scored inside.

Southwest Missouri State countered with the athletic drives of Roshanda Reed and Jackie Stiles and with 17:05 to go in the half, Baylor led 8-4.

Fueled by Stiles, SMS then went on a 10-0 run to take a the lead at 14-8. Danielle Crockrom broke the drought with a pair of free throws and Toya Ellis and Moffitt scored on moves to the basket.

But Sarah Singer and Stiles both hit long treys from the left side to make it 20-14, SMS, with 11:16 in the half.

The Lady Bears then went on a 12-2 run of their own. Lara Webb made a basket on a break and then hit from 16, and when Moffitt scored off an inbounds play and hit two free throws it was 26-22, Baylor, with 7:51 to go before intermission.

Stiles buried a long trey to cut the lead to one, but Ellis answered with one of her own from the top of the key.

BU's Webb got hot, hitting on a pullup jumper and eight-footer from the baseline and Crockrom hit two free throws to give Baylor an eight-point lead.

Stiles, who had merely been hot, then went on an absolute tear, hitting every kind of shot imaginable. Her pullup jumper from the free throw line with three seconds remaining cut Baylor's lead to two at 39-37 and gave her 24 points in the half.

At that point Stiles had hit 10-of-13 shots from the field. SMS's next-highest scorer was Sarah Singer with all of three points, but thanks largely to Stiles, they had hit 59.3 percent of her shots.

Through the early going of the final half, Baylor slowly built a lead. Webb hit a jumper from the free throw line and then nailed a trey. Moffitt scored on another inbounds pass to put BU up 46-41 with 16:45 left in the game.

The Lady Bears were able to keep their lead with the driving shots of Ellis and free throws of Moffitt. When the senior post hit a pair at the 11:36 mark, BU went back up by six at 58-52.

Meanwhile, the Bears had done a good job of denying Stiles the ball. At that point she had only taken five shots in the half. But with both Moffitt and Webb missing much of the second half with foul trouble, it was only a matter of time before she bounced back.

Baylor and SMS continued to scrap each other basket-for-basket. The Bears went up by six on Crockrom's putback of a missed free throw, but the visitors cut the lead to two with Kimberly McDowell's shot off an inside move, making it 65-63, BU with 7:46 to go.

Baylor then engineered a 12-2 run, highlighted by Ellis' four consecutive free throws when SMS coach Cheryl Burnett was called for a double technical and ejected from the game.

"I definitely wanted to get one (technical)," Burnette said. "But I got two and I didn't get to see the end of the game. I understand the players rallied around and kept playing hard."

"When she got her T's that gave us a lot of emotion and energy," Stiles said.

By the time Ellis had hit her free throws and Crockrom, who had her first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, scored on an inside move, it was 77-63 Lady Bears with 5:30 remaining.

Then Stiles really went to work. After scoring on a dazzling spin move and four free throws she had cut the BU lead to six at 81-75 with 2:27 left.

Again and again she hit, and even with Webb hitting two free throws and Crockrom completing a three-point play, Stiles continued to pour it in. Her 360 degree spinning drive to the basket at the 1:08 mark cut BU's lead to four at 86-82 and gave her 48 point for the night.

But she wasn't through. Reed, who finished with 10 points, made a free throw to make it 86-83, and Baylor inbounded with 38.3 seconds remaining. The Bears' Ellis, who scored a team-high 22 points, worked the clock down to 11 seconds before driving the lane and missing a heavily contested eight-footer.

Stiles naturally wound up with the ball, dribbled to five feet behind the three-point arc and drained it to tie the game at 86. And just as importantly, she drew a foul when Webb went over the help Ellis on defense.

"I told them in the huddle, 'Don't foul the three-point shooter. Don't foul the three-point shooter. Don't foul the three-point shooter,'" Hogg said.

Stiles then calmly hit the free throw to score her 52nd point and give her team its first lead of the game at 87-86.

"I knew we were down by three and knew I had to shoot a three," Stiles said. "I had about 11 seconds left, so I took my time and then changed speeds, pulled up and made it. Luckily, it went in and luckily, I was fouled."

Stiles had missed a free throw to beat Indiana earlier this year, but there was no doubt this time around.

"We believe we can always win," the hero said. "No matter how far behind we are and no matter how much time's left, we feel like we can win."

After Ellis' desperation trey went wide right SMS celebrated as if it had just won the Final Four. The players huddled and screamed at mid-court, broke it up just long enough to shake the Baylor players' hands, then huddled again for another celebrating huddle.

For what seemed like several minutes they stayed on the court before their screams could be heard heading up the tunnel to the dressing room.

"It was a battle guys, it really was a battle," Hogg said. "We played hard, no doubt in my mind we played hard. I told the kids that if they battle that hard all year they'll win a lot of games. We'll come back strong, no doubt about it. One game is not the season."