By Kathleen Nelson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 28, 2006 Talking to Jackie Stiles can be painful. She recounts the shining moments, such as closing her college career with a record 3,393 points, with the same breathless energy she uses to recount all 13 operations she has undergone on her wrists, rotator cuff, heels and foot. The good stories finish with "it was so great" and a sigh that says she longs for those times again. The bad ones inevitably end with a "but," as if no setback ever totally beat her down. She looks at the episodes but seldom the big picture, which shows what she meant to women's basketball. She has agreed to reflect, oh so briefly, Sunday, when she is inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference's Hall of Fame as part of the conference's 100th anniversary gala. "I'm very touched," she said. "It sounds like it will be a really nice event. I'm so happy they're giving me this honor." Stiles was so touched that she put her dreams on hold. A new physical therapy has restored her range of motion and given her the will to take one more shot at her life's calling. Stiles has signed a contract to play with the Canberra Capitals of the Women's National Basketball League in Australia. The season began earlier this month. She will report to the Caps in early November. "The team wanted me, but I'd already committed to this event," she said. "I wouldn't want to miss this. My college career was the best part of my life. In a way, it's good because it's given me more time to get ready." The Valley is honoring Stiles for her contribution to women's basketball in the state, the conference and the nation. She finished her career at the school formerly known as Southwest Missouri State as the NCAA's leading career scorer and led the Lady Bears to the 2001 Final Four, where they lost to Purdue in the semifinals at what was then known as Savvis Center. She won the Wade Trophy, given to the best player in the nation as selected by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, was a Kodak All-American and made multiple national all-academic teams. She captured the WNBA's rookie of the year award that summer with a scoring average of 14.9 points for the Portland Fire, then began a series of 13 operations on assorted body parts. The Fire folded after her second season, and she went to the Los Angeles Sparks in the dispersal draft. Stiles was placed on injured reserve in 2003. Comebacks in Australia and a U.S. development league were thwarted by injuries. She tried every therapy that came down the pike. None relieved her pain nor restored her range of motion. Stiles found a pain-free competitive outlet in biking early in 2005 and rose steadily through the amateur and pro ranks. She finished 20th in one of the Gateway Cup races here in 2005. It was her last. "I just didn't enjoy it like I did basketball," she said. "I asked, 'Do I love it enough to go full out?' I'm kind of all-or-nothing. I decided to step away and decide what I wanted to do." She continued to train on the bike and developed the body of an endurance athlete, dropping to 110 pounds from her basketball weight of 140. She continued to offer basketball clinics but couldn't participate in the drills she was asking 10-year-olds to do. It was time to hang it up. "I had pretty much retired, but I was going through the grieving process," Stiles said. "I'd called a workers' comp lawyer. Doctors said there wasn't much to be done." Then, one more therapy came down the pike: ASTYM, an acronym for Augmented Soft Tissue Mobilization, which Stiles began in June. Therapists used clear plastic tools to rub, knead and massage the skin around an area containing scar tissue. Treatments lead to bruising, aka "controlled microtrauma." The bruising and inflammation lead to reabsorption of adhesions, collagen and scar tissue that is replaced with regenerated muscle or tendons. "It's painful, and it bruises you," Stiles said. "I look like I've been beaten." After one month, though, the range of motion in her wrist improved to 75 degrees from 50, and she could stand on her toes pain-free, which she hadn't been able to do in four years. "Basically, what I'm doing is seeing how far my body will let me take it," she said. "I can't train like I used to, so I have to be more patient. But it's so important to me. I'm so much happier." Australia seemed the perfect testing ground. She'll be reunited with Aussie Tully Bevilaqua, her backcourt mate in Portland, and will play for coach Carrie Graf, an assistant with the Seattle Storm. "I'll be nervous and scared to death," Stiles said. "It's been four years. I'm coming in not where I used to be, but this, I hope, is a steppingstone because I want to make it back to the WNBA. They sound like they'll be very patient with me. They're taking a chance on me." Stiles has become accustomed to saying goodbye here: to her NCAA career, to her pro bike career. She will be enshrined here. What better place for a bon voyage party?