PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Jackie Stiles has shot a basketball about 4 million times in her life. That's not some crazy exaggeration. She really has taken about 4 million shots in her life. So when the moment came Monday, and Southwest Missouri State trailed, and the crowd screeched, and the gymnasium simmered like a steam bath, and three Rutgers players ran at her, Stiles did what feels as natural to her as singing in the shower.

She stopped, faded a little and swished her soft jump shot.

You don't often get to see greatness up close. Monday night, Jackie Stiles poured in 32 on a Rutgers team that sent waves of defenders at her -- strong players, tall players, quick players, cheerleaders, security guards, Sopranos. She led Southwest Missouri State to a 60-53 victory. She willed SMS to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1993.

More than any of that, she scored 17 points in the last 7 minutes, with the game teetering, the end near, that clutch time when greatness comes out.

Only thing is, when you've shot 4 million shots in your young life, you just don't look at it that way. It's not about greatness. It's about habit. Stiles stopped, faded a little, swished her soft jump shot.

"I'm an instinctive player," she said. "I don't really think about what I'm going to do. I just sort of do it."

III

Four million shots. It's staggering. That equals 1,000 shots a day since Stiles was 12. And she has shot them in all sorts of places in all sorts of weather. In Kansas wind. In Missouri rain. She has shot over 7-footers like Eric Chenowith, over fiancee Matt Barrett, over a million little girls and a million more tall women.

Most of the time, she simply shot alone.

"I've just seen her work so hard," said her father, Pat. "I'm sitting over there so nervous I can't see straight. But she's calm as can be. This is just what she does. It's second nature to her now."

Rutgers sent a rush of defenders at her Monday. This is how good Jackie Stiles is -- Rutgers changed its defense for her. Understand, Rutgers is one of the great defensive teams in America. The Scarlet Knights held Vermont to 29. They shut down Notre Dame's Ruth Riley, perhaps the best player in America. They play inspired defense, led by their inspired coach C. Vivian Stringer, but you know what? They changed for Stiles. That's how good she is.

"I would do it again," Stringer said. Rutgers threw everybody at Stiles. They mixed and matched, they tried the physical Karlita Washington, and they tried the tall and athletic Linda Miles, and they tried superquick Nikki Jett. They played zone and matchup zone and man-to-man and triangle-and-two, and it was all wearing on Stiles, the most prolific scorer in women's NCAA history. She scored one point the first 13 minutes of the second half. She was in foul trouble. She had committed nine turnovers.

Only then, Rutgers led by three, and the 36 banners and five retired jerseys dangled in the gym, and the heaters moaned, and the fans shrieked in piercing New Jersey accents: "This is our house! Go home, Stiles!" Rutgers had not lost on this court all season. Rutgers had not even trailed in the second half all year.

That's when Jackie Stiles decided to go get the ball.

"I thought, `Go for it,' " she said. "I mean, what did I have to lose? If I had backed off, I would never have been able to live with that. I had to go out giving everything I had."

That's when Rutgers ran three players at her, and Stiles stopped, faded away and swished the shot. The next time down it was a spin, a stop, a fade, a swish. Then she made two free throws. She threw a great pass to Melody Campbell. More free throws. And more free throws. She swished two with 20 seconds left that put the game away.

"I looked at her on the line," Stringer said, "and I thought, `There's no way she's going to miss. There's no way.' "

Of those 4 million shots, yeah, Stiles probably squeezed in a million free throws at least.

III

Jackie Stiles can't find the shoes she loves. They're the Cynthia Cooper model, and nobody makes them anymore, and she can't find them anywhere. That's a real problem, because she loves those shoes, loves how they feel on her feet, and she's down to her last pair. Hey, if you know where she can get Cynthia Cooper models, pass it along, because she really needs them.

She loves those shoes. Because Stiles, more than anything, loves routine. She wants everything to feel exactly the same. She wears her hair the same, her clothes the same, her knee pads the same. She eats the same food and goes through the same procedures before games.

You ask: Why? Is she a kook? No. See, Jackie Stiles practices longer and harder than any other player in America. She has shot 4 million shots in her life. So, when it's time, when three players are running at her, and it's the NCAA Tournament, and her family sits in the stands shivering with nerves, and people are yelling at her, she just does what she does.

Stop, fade, swish.

"I don't really think about what I just did," she said. "I was just playing basketball. My teammates did a great job getting me the ball. They set great picks. They believed in me. All I had to do was make the shots."

She smiled.