SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – Oh Jackie!
Jackie Stiles, the Pistol Pete Maravich of women's college
basketball, scored 41 points, 25 in the second half, as Southwest
Missouri State stunned top-seeded Duke 81-71 in the West Regional
semifinals Saturday night.
|  | | Duke's Georgia Schweitzer dribbles past Ann Cavey, right, and Jackie Stiles, left. But it's Stiles who would rule this night. |
The fifth-seeded Lady Bears (28-5), in a regional final for the
first time since their Final Four appearance eight years ago, will
play No. 6-seeded Washington, which eliminated Oklahoma, in the regional
final Monday night.
The 5-foot-8 Stiles, who this year set the record for most
career points in NCAA women's basketball and averaged 30.2 this
season, made 15 of 22 field goals with a dazzling repertoire of
soft jumpers, spin moves and fearless drives.
"I'm just trying to get the most out of my God-given talents
and abilities every day," she said. "I don't want to look back on
my career and say `What if?' I just want to go for it with
everything I have."
Blue Devils coach Gail Goestenkors tried everything she could
think of to try to keep the ball out of Skiles' hands, to know
avail.
"She's relentless," Goestenkors said. "She's playing at a
superior level the entire game. She's in constant motion. ... She's
got the most desire to score than anybody I've ever seen, not just
to score but to help her team win."
Alana Beard scored 27 for Duke (30-4) but was saddled by foul
trouble and fouled out with 59 seconds to go. Iciss Tillis scored
14 and Georgia Schweitzer 10 for the Blue Devils.
Duke was the second No. 1 seed to fall Saturday. Top-ranked
Tennessee was knocked off by Xavier in the Mideast Regional
semifinals.
"This is March Madness, and we don't want to get beat out,"
Tara Mitchem of Southwest Missouri State said. "We were sitting in
the hotel today watching Tennessee. We thought it was a day of
upsets."
Mitchem scored 17 for the Lady Bears, including a 3-pointer to
start the second half.
Otherwise, it was the Stiles show.
With the capacity Spokane Arena crowd cheering her on, she
scored 16 as Southwest Missouri State outscored Duke 22-10 over the
final 8:11.
"We always smile at Southwest Missouri State when we hear
people say, `Well, she just plays in the Missouri Valley
Conference,"' coach Cheryl Burnette said. "We know Jackie Stiles
has played like this against the best in the country, and this is
another great example of it."
Duke had dreams of a dual national championship with it's men's
team.
"This is very difficult to take," Schweitzer said. "It seemed
like nothing would go our way."
Goestenkors said her team had nothing to feel sorry about.
"It told them there was no reason to hang their heads," the
Duke coach said. "We lost to a great team that was at the top of
its game."
Down by as many as 12 points in the first half and trailing
42-36 at the break, the Lady Bears went on a 12-2 run to start the
second half.
Stiles' three-point play gave Southwest Missouri State a 46-44
lead with 15:27 to play. Duke starting forward Rochelle Parent drew
her fourth foul on the play. Stiles' soft 14-footer capped the run
to put the Bears up 48-46.
There were nine lead changes before Stiles gave Southwest
Missouri State the lead for good, 66-65, with a 10-footer with 5:47
to play.
Carly Deer sank a 3-pointer and Stiles a 14-footer while the
Blue Devils committed three consecutive turnovers in a 7-0 spurt
that put the Lady Bears up 71-65 4:31 from the finish.
Duke led throughout the first half after Beard's 3-pointer put
the Blue Devils up 12-11, but Stiles kept the Lady Bears close.
Stiles got her second foul with 14:37 to play in the first half
and went to the bench. But she came back two minutes later and
played the rest of the game with just one more foul.
Beard, who settled down after turnovers on Duke's first two
possessions, scored six in a 15-5 run that gave the Blue Devils a
32-20 lead on a 3-pointer by Tillis with 8:05 to go in the half.
But Duke went cold and Stiles kept up the pressure.
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ALSO SEE
Women's College Basketball Scoreboard
SW Missouri State Clubhouse
Duke Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Carly Deer gets the steal and Jackie Stiles finishes with the bucket and foul.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jackie Stiles hits the fadeaway jumper to extend the Lady Bears' lead.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Tara Mitchem knocks down the difficult shot for two of her 17 points.
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A driving Jackie Stiles gets the bucket and the foul in the first half.
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Duke's Sheana Mosch scores on a pull-up jumper and gets fouled in the process.
avi: 978 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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