Box Score



CHAMPIONSHIP
AT INDIANAPOLIS IN

BAYLOR (84)

                          fg    ft    rb
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
S Young             36 10-19   6-9   4-9   4   1   26
A Wabara            10   0-1   0-0   0-2   1   1    0
S Blackmon          35  8-19   6-8   2-7   1   2   22
C Whitaker          32   0-2   0-1   3-5   6   1    0
C Scott             18   3-3   0-0   1-4   3   0    7
M Jones              1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
C Ononiwu            1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
C Fox                2   0-0   0-0   0-2   0   0    0
L Wyatt             20   3-5   2-4   1-6   0   4    8
V Jones              1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
A Tisdale            8   0-2   2-2   0-0   1   2    2
J Davis              1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
M Hamerly            2   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
E Niemann           33  6-10   2-2   1-3   1   1   19

_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 30-61 18-26 12-38  17  12   84
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.492, FT-.692. 3-Point Goals:
6-12, .500 (A Wabara 0-1, C Scott 1-1, L
Wyatt 0-1, A Tisdale 0-1, E Niemann 5-8).
Team Rebounds: 7. Blocked Shots:  0.
Turnovers: 12 (S Young 3, S Blackmon 2, C
Scott 2, A Tisdale 2, C Whitaker, A Wabara, L
Wyatt). Steals: 8 (C Whitaker 2, A Wabara 2,
S Blackmon, C Ononiwu, E Niemann, C Scott).

MICHIGAN ST (62)

                          fg    ft    rb
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
L Shimek            37   3-6   0-0   0-5   2   3    7
K Roehrig           30   3-8   2-2   0-5   0   3    8
K Haynie            37  7-14   3-5   0-1   5   4   17
L Bowen             37  5-14  8-10   1-3   1   0   20
V Lucas-Perry       25   3-6   0-0   0-2   0   3    7
R Haynes            19   0-3   1-2   0-2   1   2    1
M Dwyer              1   0-0   0-0   1-1   0   0    0
M Small              1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
K Grantham           3   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   2    0
M Bannister          1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
L Hall               9   1-2   0-0   0-1   0   2    2

_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 22-53 14-19  2-20   9  19   62
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.415, FT-.737. 3-Point Goals:
4-18, .222 (L Shimek 1-2, K Haynie 0-3, L
Bowen 2-9, V Lucas-Perry 1-3, R Haynes 0-1).
Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 5 (K Roehrig
3, L Shimek, L Hall). Turnovers: 12 (L Shimek
4, L Bowen 2, R Haynes 2, K Haynie, M Dwyer,
V Lucas-Perry, K Roehrig). Steals: 8 (K
Haynie 5, L Bowen 2, V Lucas-Perry).


-----------------------------------
BAYLOR               37  47   -  84
MICHIGAN ST          25  37   -  62
-----------------------------------

Technical fouls: None. A: 28,937. Officials: Lisa
Mattingly, Melissa Barlow, Scott Yarbrough

Game Story

INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The improbable is a reality.

Sophia Young and Steffanie Blackmon combined for 48 points and
16 rebounds as Baylor won its first national championship in
school history with an 84-62 rout of Michigan State.

Just five years removed a 7-20 season, the Lady Bears climbed to
the top of the women's college basketball world with one of the
most dominant performances in the 24-year history of the title
game.  The margin of victory was the second largest, topped only
by Tennessee's 23-point victory over Louisiana Tech in 1987.

Baylor (33-3) also became just the third team in women's history
to beat three top seeds en route to the championship, joining
Tennessee in 1987 and Louisiana Tech in 1988.

The Lady Bears proved dominant on their way to the title,
defeating North Carolina in the Tempe Regional final, Louisiana
State in the national semifinals and Michigan State by an
average of 14 points.

An assistant for Louisiana Tech in 1988, Kim Mulkey-Robertson
became the first woman to win a national championship as both a
player and coach.  The Hall of Famer captured her first NCAA
title as the starting point guard with Louisiana Tech in 1982.

"Certainly, it's an honor," Mulkey-Robertson said. "But as I
said, I've been blessed all my life to put myself around
winners.  And I've learned from the best."

Young, a native of the West Indies who began playing no more
than six years ago, had 26 points and nine rebounds en route to
being selected the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

"I feel like I'm living my dream and I don't know what kind of
player I'll be," Young said. "Hopefully, I'll just grow up to
develop into a better player."

Blackmon added 22 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Bears,
who became the first Big 12 Conference school - men or women -
to win a national championship in basketball.

The inside game of Young and Blackmon highlighted a powerful
rebounding performance for the Lady Bears, who held a 45-22 edge
on the boards.  They also helped Baylor to a 17-0 advantage on
second-chance points, while limiting Michigan State to just
three offensive rebounds.

"I thought rebounding was outstanding for us," Mulkey-Robertson
said. "Looking at the stats, that's the most we have
outrebounded anybody all year."

"I think that we were a step slow," Michigan State coach Joanne
P. McCallie said.  "You have to remember, we played Tennessee,
the most physical team around, and came back from 16 points
down.  Nobody was moving like they could move. And that was a
big problem against a nice athletic team like Baylor."

The long-range shooting of reserve Emily Niemann also proved to
be a huge problem for the Spartans, whose zone defense became a
non-factor.

With Baylor sputtering on offense in the early stages,
Mulkey-Robertson inserted the sophomore forward within the first
three minutes.

Niemann responded with consecutive 3-pointers, giving the Lady
Bears their first six points.  She made her first four shots
from the arc as the lead ballooned to 32-13 with 3:13 left in
the first half.

"I really think the outside shooting of Niemann in the first
half was really critical to just the overall confidence (of
Baylor)," McCallie said. "It opened up the inside and then I
thought their post players just did a great job."

Niemann finished with five 3-pointers and 19 points as the Lady
Bears' reserves outscored the Spartans' bench by a lopsided
29-3.

"I was feeling good tonight," Niemann said. "My teammates did a
good job of getting me the ball in great spots. They just do a
great job of making things easy on me so that I can just catch
and shoot."

Baylor, which had won just three NCAA Tournament games entering
this season, built on its 37-25 halftime lead by shooting 53
percent (16-of-30) after intermission.

The Lady Bears, who won their final 20 games, matched the school
record for wins in a season set in 1978.

Lindsay Bowen scored 20 points and Kristin Haynie added 17 for
Michigan State (33-4), which also had won just three NCAA
Tournament games entering this season.  The Spartans shot 41.5
percent (22-of-53).