Facing a path that included three No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship didn't deter Baylor from capturing the its first national championship.

The Lady Bears put an exclamation point on their journey through the tournament bracket with a convincing 84-62 championship-game victory over Michigan State in front of 28,937 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis April 5.

The championship marks a significant leap for the Lady Bears, who were coming off a 7-20 season when a decision was made to hire Kim Mulkey-Robertson as the coach of the program.

Five years later, Baylor owns the trophy.

Mulkey-Robertson credited Baylor administrators for giving her the resources and patience to build the program, and her coaching staff for all of their hard work on the recruiting trails and player development in practices.

"You can't go out after the McDonald's all-Americans, you've got to go after sleepers and beat the bushes and find those players," said Mulkey-Robertson, who is the first man or woman to win national basketball titles as a player (at Louisiana Tech in 1982), assistant coach (also at Louisiana Tech) and as a head coach. "We just won a national championship with not one kid on the roster who was recruited by the powers that be. And that gives hope to all of us that are trying to build a program."

The Lady Bears (33-3), who defeated the Tempe regional's No. 1 seed North Carolina, 73-62, in the regional final and the tournament's top seed LSU, 68-57, in the national semifinals, were led by post players Sophia Young and Steffanie Blackmon.

Young, the tournament's most outstanding player, finished the title game with 26 points and nine rebounds, and Blackmon contributed 22 points and seven boards as the Lady Bears used their superior quickness inside.

Baylor, which overcame a 15-point first-half deficit before rallying to defeat LSU in the semifinals, held a 45-22 advantage in rebounds against Michigan State.

"Looking at the stats, that's the most we've outrebounded anybody all year," Mulkey-Robertson said. "And to limit them to just three offensive rebounds and make sure they only got one look at the basket -- I was very proud of our defense."

Young, a junior, began playing basketball only five years ago after moving to the United States from the West Indies.

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

Blackmon, a 6-2 senior, and Emily Niemann joined Young on the all-tournament team. Niemann, a 6-1 sophomore, came off the bench to score 19 points in the title game, including 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range to complement the Lady Bear' strong post play.

"I think (Niemann) was the whole key to this game," said Michigan State coach Joanne P. McCallie. "If you take No. 51 off the floor, it was a different game. She was definitely the X factor."

Like Baylor, the 33-4 Spartans were appearing in their first national championship game. Michigan State, which rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to defeat Tennessee, 68-64, in the semifinals, had Kristin Haynie and Lindsay Bowen named to the all-tournament team.

Bowen finished the championship game with 20 points, and Haynie added 17 points and five assists for the Spartans.

Both Michigan State and Baylor have a good portion of their teams coming back for the 2005-06 season.

"We have a lot of young players," Mulkey-Robertson said. "We only lose three seniors, two of those get significant time, but we have got a returning nucleus of players that aren't going to go away -- and they sure liked the way it felt when that buzzer went off."

First-timers Baylor and Michigan State reaching the championship game also supports the notion of more parity in the women's game.

"You don't have just 20 players in the country at the Connecticuts and Tennessees," Niemann said. "You have lots of great players all over the country, and they're going to different schools. It's making the game a lot of fun to watch and a lot of fun to be a part of."

Regionals

Chattanooga regional -- LSU 90, Liberty 48; Duke 63, Georgia 57; LSU 59, Duke 49.

Tempe regional -- North Carolina 79, Arizona St. 72; Baylor 64, Minnesota 57; Baylor 72, North Carolina 63.

Philadelphia regional -- Tennessee 75, Texas Tech 59; Rutgers 64, Ohio St. 58; Tennessee 59, Rutgers 49.

Kansas City regional -- Michigan St. 61, Vanderbilt 59; Stanford 76, Connecticut 59; Michigan St. 76, Stanford 69.

Semifinals

Baylor 68, LSU 57

Baylor: Sophia Young 9-22, 3-4, 10, 21; Abiola Wabara 4-6, 4-4, 5, 12; Steffanie Blackmon 2-8, 3-3, 1, 7; Chameka Scott 2-5, 2-2, 6, 7; Chelsea Whitaker 2-7, 3-5, 6, 7; Latoya Wyatt 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Angela Tisdale 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Emily Niemann 5-7, 3-3, 2, 14. TOTALS: 24-56, 18-21, 35 (4 team), 68.

LSU: Wendlyn Jones 0-2, 0-0, 3, 0; Tillie Willis 0-1, 0-0, 3, 0; Temeka Johnson 6-12, 1-3, 5, 14; Scholanda Hoston 3-8, 0-0, 2, 8; Seimone Augustus 10-26, 2-3, 5, 22; Quianna Chaney 0-0, 0-1, 0, 0; Florence Williams 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Sylvia Fowles 4-7, 5-6, 12, 13. TOTALS: 23-56, 8-13, 34 (3 team), 57.

Halftime: Baylor 28, LSU 28. Three-point field goals: Baylor 2-9 (Scott 1-3, Niemann 1-3, Tisdale 0-1, Whitaker 0-2); LSU 3-10 (Hoston 2-5, Johnson 1-1, Augustus 0-4). Officials: Dee Kantner, Tina Napier, Barb Smith. Attendance: 28,937.

Michigan St. 68, Tennessee 64

Michigan St.: Liz Shimek 6-10, 2-3, 11, 14; Kelli Roehrig 6-12, 0-0, 3, 12; Kristin Haynie 2-7, 0-0, 9, 4; Lindsay Bowen 6-13, 2-2, 0, 18; Victoria Lucas-Perry 4-9, 3-4, 6, 14; Rene Haynes 2-8, 0-0, 1, 4; Maggie Dwyer 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Katrina Grantham 0-0, 2-2, 1, 2. TOTALS: 26-59, 9-11, 33 (2 team), 68.

Tennessee: Alexis Hornbuckle 7-11, 1-4, 8, 16; Shyra Ely 4-14, 1-2, 8, 9; Nicky Anosike 3-10, 1-5, 13, 7; Shanna Zolman 5-13, 2-2, 2, 13; Loree Moore 5-8, 0-0, 6, 11; Brittany Jackson 1-3, 0-0, 0, 2; Tye'sha Fluker 3-7, 0-0, 4, 6. TOTALS: 28-66, 5-13, 43 (2 team), 64.

Halftime: Tennessee 31, Michigan St. 25. Three-point field goals: Michigan St. 7-15 (Bowen 4-7, Lucas-Perry 3-4, Haynie 0-2, Haynes 0-2); Tennessee 3-8 (Hornbuckle 1-1, Moore 1-2, Zolman 1-4, Jackson 0-1). Officials: Sally Bell, Bob Trammell, Michael Price. Attendance: 28,937.

Championship game

Baylor 84, Michigan St. 62

Baylor: Sophia Young 10-19, 6-9, 9, 26; Abiola Wabara 0-1, 0-0, 2, 0; Steffanie Blackmon 8-19, 6-8, 7, 22; Chelsea Whitaker 0-2, 0-1, 5, 0; Chameka Scott 3-3, 0-0, 4, 7; Monique Jones 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Chisa Ononiwu 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Chanelle Fox 0-0, 0-0, 2, 0; Latoya Wyatt 3-5, 2-4, 6, 8; Victoria Jones 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Angela Tisdale 0-2, 2-2, 0, 2; Jordan Davis 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Melanie Hamerly 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Emily Niemann 6-10, 2-2, 3, 19. TOTALS: 30-61, 18-26, 45 (7 team), 84.

Michigan St.: Liz Shimek 3-6, 0-0, 5, 7; Kelli Roehrig 3-8, 2-2, 5, 8; Kristin Haynie 7-14, 3-5, 1, 17; Lindsay Bowen 5-14, 8-10, 3, 20, Victoria Lucas-Perry 3-6, 0-0, 2, 7; Rene Haynes 0-3, 1-2, 2, 1; Maggie Dwyer 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Melanie Small 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Katrina Grantham 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Myisha Bannister 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Laura Hall 1-2, 0-0, 1, 2. TOTALS: 22-53, 14-19, 22 (2 team), 62.

Halftime: Baylor 37, Michigan St. 25. Three-point field goals: Baylor 6-12 (Niemann 5-8, Scott 1-1, Wabara 0-1, Wyatt 0-1, Tisdale 0-1); Michigan St. 4-18 (Bowen 2-9, Shimek 1-2, Lucas-Perry 1-3, Haynes 0-1, Haynie 0-3). Officials: Melissa Barlow, Lisa Mattingly, Scott Yarbrough. Attendance: 28,937.