SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Claflin's favorite daughter Jackie Stiles gets an awful lot of attention both off and on the basketball court.

The attention comes from not just opposing players and coaches, but from reporters and autograph seekers.

The hysteria and hoopla surrounding Jackie Stiles hasn't let up any now that she's a senior at Southwest Missouri State University and is about to set the NCAA Division I women's scoring record.

The Jackiemania has increased twentyfold.

The closer she got to the NCAA all-Time scoring lead, the media crush intensified. The only names ahead of her on the all-time list were Patricia Hoskins, Mississsippi Valley State, 3,122 points and Lorri Bauman, Drake, 3,115.

She passed the the legendary Chamique Holdsclaw, 3,025 and the legendary Cheryl Miller, Southern California, 3,018. She passed Maine legend Cindy Blodgett, 3,005.

Jackie Stiles has been receiving this kind of scrutiny since she was a freshman at Claflin High School through her senior year when she became the all-time leading scorer in Kansas basketball history.

She has been in the proverbial fishbowl since even before she won 14 gold medals at the Kansas State High School Track and Field Championships. The recruiting tales, which included dozens of daily phone calls from coaches, guestbook signings and calls to the "Psychic Hotline" are legendary.

Recently she has been the focus of articles by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kansas City Star and Sports Illustrated. ESPN.com runs a Q&A with Stiles, where she gets to answer questions from fans over the internet. CNNSI also features Stiles in a Q&A with fans.

The Jackiemania is understandable since Stiles began her run to become the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I women's college basketball.

Defending Jackie

Jackie Stiles gets plenty of attention from opposing teams.

During a Sunday afternoon game back on Feb. 11, the 5-foot-8 senior guard and All-American received the ultimate in respect from an opponent -- a defensive scheme designed just to "contain" her.

The Evansville Purple Aces, a team Stiles burned for 41 points in Evansville Jan. 11, played a "box-and-one" on her. A box-and-one is when a team plays some sort of zone and deploys one player to shadow the other team's best offensive threat.

It's not the first time Jackie Stiles has been the focus of a box-and-one or a gimmick defense. It won't be the last. She's seen them all.

"It's tough night in and night out -- I'm a target," said Stiles about the gimmick defenses teams use to try to keep her from lighting them up for 30, 40 or maybe 50 points.

"I can make them pay by giving the ball up or by setting screens." Stiles has scored more than 30 points 35 times during her collegiate career. She also has 10 40-point games and two 50-point games.

Jackie Stiles' shadow this Sunday afternoon was the cat-quick and long-armed Latasha Austin, a 5-7 junior guard for the Evansville Purple Aces.

Austin may be the only player in the Missouri Valley Conference who can match Jackie Stiles' energy.

Stiles led all scorers with 25 points, but thanks to Austin, she only attempted four shots in the second half. It was rough game for Stiles, particularly in the area of no-calls from officials.

The 25-point effort against Evansville, a 31-point effort Feb. 16 against Bradley and a 39-point effort Feb. 18 at Northern Iowa pushed Stiles over the 3,000-point mark for her college career to 3,079. The efforts pushed her into third place on the all-time list.

On Feb. 9 at Springfield, she torched Southern Illinois for 43 points in front of a crowd that included her father and Gary Bittner, her tennis coach from Claflin, who watched his first SMS home game.

Not only did Stiles score 43 points, she dished off 4 assists and had zero turnovers. She made 7-of-9 three-pointers and made all 12 free throw attempts.

Stiles' effort against Evansville is a lesson for young basketball players who think they're going to be great scorers -- the best players move without the basketball.

A shark has to keep moving to stay alive. A scorer can't score if he or she doesn't get open.

The lack of foul calls on defenders guarding Stiles prompted the best line of the weekend from Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader columnist Steve Koehler: "As much as she (Stiles) gets mugged, we're thinking of sending over our police reporter," he quipped.

"We expected Austin to be on Jackie," said Southwest Missouri State women's basketball coach Cheryl Burnett. "We adjusted better today. She (Austin) has a long wing span. Jackie did a great job of trying to get away from her. We played a great second half and Jackie didn't have to carry us." Northern Iowa coach Tony DiCecco junked his standard defense after watching Stiles torch his team for 28 first-half points on 10-for-13 shooting. Stiles scored the last 20 Southwest Missouri State points of the first half. DiCecco had two players shadow her all over the floor and the three others form a triangle near the basket.

It worked.

The UNI Panthers held Stiles to one basket in the first 10 minutes of the second half and used two big runs to take control.

Stiles' roommate Carly Deer may have stolen some of the limelight and thunder during the victory against Evansville, but that's OK with the humble smalltown Kansas girl.

Deer, a 6-footer from Warrensburg, Mo., scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds -- both career highs. Deer hit three 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the game.

The Bears, who won their 18th game out of 22, also got 13 points and 5 rebounds from Kinga Kiss, a 6-7 junior from Miercurea-Ciuc, Romania, and Jefferson College, Mo., Community College.

Tara Mitchem, a senior from Springfield, added 7. Freshman Morgan Hohenberger scored 8.

Stiles and Deer have been roommates for four years. After two years in the dormitory, they moved into an apartment not too far from the Bears' home arena (the John Q. Hammons Student Center). The apartment had been previously rented by former SMS teammate Lisa Davies, who graduated two years ago.

"She drives me nuts," said Burnett about Deer. "She's a little sporadic as fans know. We depend on her emotions and how she plays. She shot very well early."

Stiles didn't want to talk about herself as much as she did her roommate. This is part of her humility and selflessness.

"She (Deer) played an outstanding game. She grabbed a lot of key rebounds and kept getting her hands on the ball. She came out and hit those 3's." With the Purple Aces focusing on her roomate, Deer and starting point Melody Campbell said the rest of the Bears had to step up their play.

"I didn't really expect it," said Deer about the 22 points and 14 rebounds. "They had two and three girls on Jackie. I was lucky they left me open." Sometimes the Bears step up when other team's turn their attention to stopping Stiles. Sometimes they don't. Against the Aces, they did, said Campbell.

"You can credit that to Jackie. That forces ups to play better. That left Kinga wide open under the basket. Jackie was giving up shots for better shots."

Stiles said the Bears were caught off-guard by Evansville's strategy. She added that Austin is one of the toughest defenders she's faced this year. "It looked liked a box-and-one. They really surprised us because Evansville is known for playing man-to-man. Austin's very tough. She's got very quick hands."

Stiles' 31 points against Bradley were economical. She made 9-of-15 field goals, including 1-of-2 3-pointers, and was 12-of-13 from the free throw line.

Seniors to take a bow

Stiles and her senior teammates -- Deer, Mitchem, Campbell and Tiny McMorris -- will play their final home games at the Hammons Center March 1 against Creighton and March 3 against Drake.

SMS hosts the Missouri Valley Conference postseason tournament March 8-10. The Bears are hoping to maintain their top 16 ranking to earn a No. 1, 2, 3 or 4 seed at the NCAA Tournament March 16 though April 1.

Stiles' goal is to help the Bears win a regular-season title in the Missouri Valley Conference, win the postseason title and advance as many rounds as possible at the NCAA Tournament. She isn't concentrating on any scoring records.

The Women's Final Four will be played at St. Louis -- 215 miles from Springfield. If the Bears make it to the Arch City, they will definitely have the fan support.

The Bears have earned three NCAA tourney bids during her career, but were knocked out in the first round in 1998 and 2000 and the second round in 1999.

"We're right where we want to be -- we've had a few losses," Stiles said. "We want to win the Missouri Valley tournament and host a couple games in the NCAA tourney. We want to beat Drake on senior night.

"I try not to even think about the record. That's not what satisfies me. My focus is on team success. As long as we're winning games, the records are OK."

Managing her time

Stiles said she wants to learn how to manage her time, but she doesn't have much of it to spare. On this night, Stiles and her fiance Matt Barrett have to rush off to an SMS Booster Club function. She'll get a couple slices of pizza at the apartment. Before she leaves, she gave her dad Pat a present for his 45th birthday -- a new pair of size 12 Nikes.

Monday night, Feb. 12, Stiles flew off to Las Vegas for the ESPY Awards (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly). She is a nominee for Women's College Basketball Player of the Year.

The winner is Tennessee superstar Tamika Catchings, but that didn't matter to Stiles, who was happy to be nominated. Her mom Pam and brother Corey, who watched her play against Evansville, also attended the ESPYs. Pat had to drive back to Claflin to watch Jackie's brother P.J. and the Claflin boys basketball team play at St. John Monday.

P.J. leads the Wildcats in scoring at 19 points a game and is making his college decisions right now. He was starter on the Wildcats' football team. Southwestern College in Winfield is one of his suitors. Corey is a freshman at Claflin. He played football and is on the ninth grade boys basketball squad. Little sister Roxanne is seventh grader at Claflin Junior High School. She is the starting point guard on the basketball team.

On her internet interview, Stiles is asked about what she thought about her ESPY experience.

"Unbelievable. I saw a lot of people in the green room (waiting room) like Rulon Gardner (the gold-medal winning Olympic wrestler). I met Dick Vitale, all the ESPN staff, like Dan Patrick and Chris Fowler. Dick Vitale knew who I was. I couldn't believe. He said he'd seen me on TV a couple weeks ago. I was shocked. Words can't describe the experience. Being from Claflin, Kansas, this was a great experience, something I'd never seen before." With all the distractions, Stiles still has to manage taking 18 hours, basketball practice and playing three games a week. Throw in the autograph sessions and her own reluctant celebrity status and it doesn't leave much time for anything else.

"It's been one heck of a year," Stiles said. "I need to work on my time management. I thas been wild, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love this position. I just try to have a better focus and do whatever it takes to win."

Academics

In addition to all of her impressive basketball records, Stiles also has fashioned an impressive academic resume. Stiles is an honor roll student at SMS and is an Academic All-American. She was named to the academic all-district VII and Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete first team twice.

She has earned first team Kodak All-District V honors and GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-District VII honors both as a sophomore and junior. Stiles was also named to the Missouri Valley Conference's 2001 Scholar-Athlete Women's Basketball Team, as voted on by the league's sports information directors.

She is a repeat first-team selection and carries a 3.45 grade point average. Stiles was also named to the Verizon Academic All-District All-America first team in the University Division District VII. Stiles is majoring in physical education with an interest in becoming a personal trainer. She is also considering taking an education/teacher block of courses.

After this semester, Stiles will still need 17 hours to graduate. Then there's that marriage thing. Barrett proposed to Stiles during the Bears' preseason banquet. They have not set a date yet, but the couple is not in a big hurry. Matt Barrett has become a part of Jackie Stiles' superstititions and routines. He is her favorite rebounder during her 1,000 shot shootarounds, and has to call her 2 1/2 hours before game time.

The WNBA is calling

The WNBA could be a part of her future. According to an article in Sports Illustrated, she is projected as a first-round top 10 pick in April's draft. Debbie Antonelli, a broadcaster for the Charlotte Sting, gave this report on the Sting's internet site about Stiles. The Sting weren't concerned about her lack of height:

"There are only three players in the country that I would get in my car and drive to see play ... Jackie Stiles is is one of them. I have been working games in the Missouri Valley conference Jackie's entire career, and I've called games when she has scored 56 and 49 points.

"She is the real deal. She has the whole offensive package, and is leading the nation in scoring for the second consecutive year.

"But it's not just the fact that she scores: It's the way that she scores. No one in the country has the mid-range game Jackie has. She can create space between herself and her defender better than any guard in the country. She would be a valuable asset to the Sting because she is a shooter and a scorer together. She is a special talent."

According to the the Jackie Stiles web-site, two WNBA coaches bilieve Stiles is a Top 10 pick in the draft.

"She is the real deal and she has style," said Utah Starzz coach Fred Williams. "She plays with a lot of flair and makes things happen on the floor. I see her being in the top 10 or the top eight." Detroit Shock coach Gregg Williams, no relation to to the Starzz' coach, said he was impressed by Stiles style of play.

"I think a bigger two guard is going to have trouble guarding her. We're all looking for shooters in this league, and who shoots better than she does? She creates off the dribble and she's gotten much better defensively." There's something else, Williams said. Stiles is one of few players he's seen that generates a sense of what's-she-going-to-do-this-time excitement. "Anybody who watches her, even on the road, gets a thrill when she touches the ball," said Williams, who expects Stiles to be a first-round draft choice."

Not a ball hog

The biggest misconception about Jackie Stiles is that she shoots a lot. She once took 50 shots in a state tournament game, but her high school coach Gregg Webb would be the first to tell critics that most of her shots come in the flow of a game.

Stiles had taken just 446 shots in 24 games, which averages out to 18.6 shots per game. She is ranked in the top 20 in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage at 57.5 percent, remarkable for a 5-8 guard. Field goal percentage stats are usually a stat reserved for 6-5 post players. She also shoots 52 percent from 3-point range and is a career 85 percent free throw shooter.