Stiles played for Portland before L.A. got her in the dispersal draft.

It's amazing think there were still any doubters left after Jackie Stiles' star-making performance in the NCAA Tournament back in March. But the big question remained -- would all those breathtaking skills still have a place in the WNBA?

The answer, apparently, is yes. Stiles started steady if not spectacular, but is rounding into pro form quite nicely in the last couple of weeks.

In her last three games, Stiles has scored 24 points at the time a career-high, 17 points against Houston, and Wednesday night she surpassed her career high with 26 points in Indiana. It was a night made more special because several busloads of Stiles fans made the trip from Springfield, Missouri to Indianapolis for the occasion.

Stiles is the biggest reason why Portland has turned into the surprise of the year in the WNBA, firmly implanted in third place behind Houston and Los Angeles in the powerhouse Western Conference.

	Stiles on ESPN2
	Stiles will be in action on July 12 when Portland takes on Houston (10 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

"I've said all along that Jackie is a rookie and she's not going to dominate every night," said Portland coach Linda Hargrove to the local paper after the team's victory against Charlotte late last week. "But she has the capability to have a huge game on a lot of different nights. She's going to be a tremendous player in this league for a lot of years."

Wouldn't we all like to say we knew it all along?