NCAA Regional semifinal results of special interest to Fastbreakers:

Maryland – 78, Vanderbilt – 74   Click here for game details.

Arizona State – 84, Texas A&M – 69   Click here for game details.

We’ll have a complete rundown of Regional results by midweek.

SATURDAY, MARCH 28 (All times Eastern)

Raleigh Region (Raleigh, NC)

#3 Louisville vs. #2 Baylor (Noon, ESPN)

#4 Vanderbilt vs. #1 Maryland (2:30 PM, ESPN)

Berkeley Region (Berkeley, CA)

#9 Michigan State vs. #4 Iowa State (9:00 PM, ESPN)

#3 Ohio State vs. #2 Stanford (11:30 PM, ESPN2)

SUNDAY, MARCH 29 (All times Eastern)

Trenton Region (Trenton, NJ)

#3 California vs. #1 Connecticut (Noon, ESPN)

#6 Arizona State vs. #2 Texas A&M (2:30 PM, ESPN2)

Oklahoma City Region (Oklahoma City, OK)

#7 Rutgers vs. #6 Purdue (7:30 PM, ESPN2)

#4 Pittsburgh vs. #1 Oklahoma (9:30 PM, ESPN2)

Lady Bulldogs Director of Basketball Operations Heather LaBarbera and her husband Mike welcomed Graylon Michael LaBarbera to the world at 3:29 PM on Saturday, March 21. (It’s nice to know somebody was having a good time while we were all in Duluth!) Gray weighed in at a ready-to-rumble 7 pounds, 5 ounces and sporting a mop of dark hair that his Daddy is eyeing enviously in the picture above. Mike, Heather, and Gray are all home now and doing fine. Congratulations, guys, from all your friends at the Fastbreak Club!

Click here to visit Mike’s blog and see more pictures (and video!) of Gray.

ESPN2 has a doubleheader of NCAA Tournament games tonight that should be of particular interest to all Fastbreakers. At 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM (both Eastern), a couple of the Lady Bulldogs’ biggest rivals will each take on Regional number-one seeds.

7:00 PM (Eastern) – #8 Florida vs. #1 Connecticut

9:30 PM (Eastern) – #9 Georgia Tech vs. #1 Oklahoma

Connecticut will probably roll up on Florida…but Tech has a shot at knocking off Oklahoma. After all, the Jackets played Connecticut, the best team in the nation, as close as anybody played them all year. If they press, trap, and make Oklahoma’s big girls run the floor, Tech can steal this game.

And you know what? That would be great…for a couple of reasons. First of all, there are some near-and-dear members of the Fastbreak Club who are professionally and/or personally affiliated with the Tech women’s basketball program. Secondly, it’s just good for The Rivalry. Ideally, both Georgia and Tech would be undefeated and ranked in the top-ten before any game in any given sport. That’s what rivalries are all about.

So go ahead…pull the blinds shut, cross yourself a few times, and root for Tech tonight. It’s okay.

NOTE: Rooting for Florida, however, is strictly prohibited under any and all circumstances.

If you were among the few hardcore citizens of the Lady Bulldog Nation who made the trip back to Duluth for last night’s second-round NCAA Tournament action, congratulations…Arizona State and Florida State really hooked it up and put on a great show for you. Easily one of the best games of the tournament’s opening weekend.

While those two teams reached this point by playing up-tempo, push-the-ball/run-the-court offense in their first-round games, last night’s contest was a bit of an old-school, early-90s SEC slobberknocker. It looked like we were going to be in the building until midnight as the officiating crew tried to crack down and call seemingly every little hand-check in the first half. Luckily, the zebras swallowed their whistles for much of the game’s closing minutes and allowed the Sun Devils and Seminoles to decide their own fates.

FSU looked to have the game under control, leading by six with about five minutes remaining and having a cold-shooting ASU team in foul trouble. Then the Sun Devils got hot from three-point land. Hot, as in, blazing, thermo-nuclear hot. ASU wound up shooting of 8-of-17 on threes…but they connected on four straight bombs from downtown to surge ahead of FSU deep in crunch time. From there, it was a matter of protecting the ball and making free throws. Arizona State did both of those things and they are on their way to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and a date with the winner of tonight’s Minnesota/Texas A&M game.

Click here for the official (ASU) recap and a link to the stats and box score.

Anybody headed back to Gwinnett tonight? If so, who are you rooting for?

“The Devil went down to Georgia and he was lookin’ for a soul to steal.” – The Charlie Daniels Band

The ASU Sun Devils came down to Georgia and while they didn’t find any souls to steal, they did manage to find several thousand hearts to break. Arizona State defeated Georgia by a score of 58-47, sending the Lady Bulldogs home one-and-done in the opening round of 64 teams for only the third time in NCAA Tournament history. As was the case in so many games this season, the Lady Dawgs stayed within striking distance of the lead for most of the game (including a late run that cut the ASU lead to seven points with about five minutes left to be played), but they were unable to get that momentum-shifting basket or defensive stop that would’ve electrified the red and black faithful inside The Arena at Gwinnett Center. Throw in a few careless passes that led directly to Sun Devil baskets and the good mojo simply wasn’t there for Georgia today.

In another all-too-familiar scenario for this season, Georgia once again had trouble putting points up on the scoreboard. Porsha, Angela, and Angel led Georgia scorers with only nine points each. You read that right…for the first time in NCAA Tournament history, a Georgia game was played with no Lady Bulldogs breaking double figures in scoring. You really have to give all the credit in the world to ASU. Coach Charli Turner Thorne almost seemed to be flaunting her team’s depth when she subbed three players out a mere 90 seconds into the game. And the Sun Devils were as athletic as any team Georgia has faced this season. They sprung a cutter to the basket on almost every half-court offensive set and exploited Georgia’s backdoor defense early and often.

With their win over Georgia, Arizona State advances to Monday night’s second-round game and they’ll take on Florida State at 7:00 PM (Eastern) for a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. The Seminoles punched their ticket to the second round with an 83-71 win over a scrappy and entertaining North Carolina A&T team. Obviously, we’re all bummed out over the Georgia loss…but if you bought a complete set of tickets for both sessions, please use that Monday night ticket and go enjoy what should be a very entertaining and competitive game between ASU and FSU. It’s a great honor to be hosting the NCAA Tournament this season. The more backsides we can put in the seats, the better our chances are for hosting first-and-second round action in the future…or maybe even hosting a Regional sometime down the road. Again, please…show your support and help provide these two worthy teams with some big-time, NCAA Tournament-worthy atmosphere this Monday night.

Click here for the official recap and a link to the stats and box score.

Not much left to say here other than “See you there!” It’s going to be a fantastic day of hoops down at The Arena at Gwinnett Center (pictured). Georgia vs. Arizona State shortly after noon and then Florida State vs. North Carolina A&T. We’ll have recaps, game links, tons of pictures, and…hopefully…news about another Lady Bulldog game this Monday night right here at your official Fastbreak Club weblog later on this evening. Hunker down, Lady Dawgs!

Oh…one more thing. Hockey season is still going on…so the basketball court today will be on top of the Gwinnett Gladiators’ ice surface. That means it’ll be a little cooler than usual inside the arena. You won’t need a coat or anything…but you might want to wear long sleeves.

As you all may or may not know, tomorrow’s Georgia/Arizona State game will be part of ESPN2’s so-called “whip around” coverage of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. That means the broadcast of the Georgia/Arizona State game may be frequently interrupted as ESPN2 “whips around” to other tournament games being played at the same time.

However, if you’re a DirecTV subscriber, there will be a special channel dedicated to whistle-to-buzzer coverage of only the Georgia/Arizona State game. DirecTV subscribers should tune into Channel 216 at noon to watch the Lady Bulldogs game from beginning to end, free of interruptions.