Born in Kansas City, Kansas and raised in Claflin, Stiles played for Claflin High School, where she was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored eighteen points and earned MVP honors. Stiles won 14 individual state titles in track and field, a state record that still stands.
College
Stiles played college basketball at Southwest Missouri State University from 1997 to 2001. While there, She became the first NCAA Division I women's player to score more than 1,000 points in a season, scoring 1,062 in her senior year. That year, she won the Wade Trophy, which honors the best women's basketball player in the college ranks, as well as the Broderick Cup, which honors the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. She competed with USA Basketball as a member of the 2000 Jones Cup Team that won the gold in Taipei, Taiwan. During her four collegiate years, Stiles scored 3,393 points, a career total that stood as a record for Division I women's basketball until it was broken by Kelsey Plum in 2017. On March 10, 2000, she scored 56 points against Evansville, which stands as the sixth highest number of points in a single Division I game. In her senior season, Stiles scored 41 points to help fifth seed Missouri State upset top seed Duke in the 2001 Sweet 16.
Stiles was named to the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team. The team participated in the third Junior World Championship, held in Chetumal, Mexico in late August and early September 1996. The USA team won their early games easily, but lost by four points to the team from Brazil, ending up with the silver medal for the event. Stiles was named to the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team when it was invited to the 1997 FIBA Junior World Championship held in Natal, Brazil. After beating Japan, the next game was against Australia, the defending champion. The USA team pulled out to a 13-point lead in the second half, but gave up the lead and lost the game 80–74. The USA rebounded with a close 92–88 victory over Cuba, helped by 23 points each from Maylana Martin and Lynn Pride. The USA then went on to beat previously unbeaten Russia. After winning the next two games, the USA faced Australia in the gold medal game. The USA team has a three-point lead late, but the Aussies hit a three-pointer with three seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Although the Aussies scored first, the USA team came back, then pulled into the lead and held on to win 78–74 to earn the gold, and the first medal for a USA team at a Junior World Championship. Stiles averaged 1.0 point per game. Stiles was named to the team representing the US in 2000 at the William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan. The USA team started strong with a 32-point win over the host team, the Republic of China National Team. They then beat South Korea easily and faced Japan in the third game. Japan started out strongly, and had an 18-point lead in the first half. The USA then out scored Japan 23–3 to take a small lead at the half. The USA built a ten-point lead, but Japan cut it back to three with under a minute to go. Kelly Schumacher grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to bring the lead back to five points and the team held on for the win. The USA team beat Japan 83–80. The final game was against Malaysia, but it wasn't close, with the USA winning 79–24, to secure a 4–0 record for the competition and the gold medal. Stiles averaged 6.8 points per game.
Professional playing career
Her pro career started promisingly. In the 2001 WNBA Draft, she was selected fourth overall by the Portland Fire, and was later voted the Rookie of the Year. Later in her WNBA career, Stiles suffered numerous injuries, including 13 surgeries. After the Fire folded in 2002, Stiles was selected 14th by the Los Angeles Sparks, but did not play that season, spending rehabilitation time for her injuries. In 2004, Stiles signed with the Lubbock Hawks of the National Women's Basketball League. After a season, Stiles took on competitive cycling. In 2006, Stiles played briefly for the Canberra Capitals of the Women's National Basketball League in Australia before retiring due to injury. After retiring from playing professional basketball, Stiles founded J. Stiles Total Training in 2007.
