Baylor Defeats Notre Dame 2012 NCAA Tournament Champs

DENVER — Brittney Griner and Baylor left no doubt they're head and shoulders above any team in the country. In fact, they're perfect.

Griner had 26 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks to lead Baylor to a dominating 80-61 victory over Notre Dame in the NCAA women's basketball championship on Tuesday night, capping a 40-0 season for the Lady Bears.

"Looking back when we get older, I'm always going to remember this moment, always going to remember confetti falling and being here with my team," Griner said as she and her teammates hugged and celebrated.

They became the seventh women's team to run through a season unbeaten and the first in NCAA history to win 40 games. It was the second national championship for Baylor, which also won a title in 2005.

Baylor did it in a nearly wire-to-wire victory, finishing with a flourish in a season when anything less than bringing a title back to Waco would have been a huge disappointment.Mulkey has now won a title as a player (at Louisiana Tech), an Olympic gold medal (in 1984) and two titles as a coach. Only five women's coaches have more than one championship at the top level of NCAA competition.

Mulkey has downplayed the 40 wins, noting that her former coach and mentor at Louisiana Tech Leon Barmore won 40 games in 1980. That was before women's basketball was governed by the NCAA, which didn't begin keeping records until the 1982 season.

It was the second meeting between the teams this season. Baylor also won the first one, by 13 in Waco on Nov. 17. That win gave the Lady Bears the preseason WNIT title.

As usual, Griner put on a show in warmups, thrilling the crowd with a series of impressive dunks – including a one-handed throw down, a double-pump slam and another in which she hung on rim. She has already dunked twice in the tournament, matching Candace Parker for most dunks by a woman in NCAA tournament play and during a college career (seven).