A roundup of the week March 12-18

COLLEGE BASKETBALL—UCLA, Memphis State, Providence and Indiana won their regional titles and moved to the NCAA's final round in St. Louis (page 18).

Guilford (N.C.) captured the NATA basketball championship, downing Maryland-Eastern Shore 99-96 (page 78).

Kentucky Wesleyan defeated Tennessee State 78-76 in overtime to win the NCAA College Division finals.

PRO BASKETBALL—NBA: The rich got richer as Boston clinched first in the Atlantic Division, Los Angeles did the same for its third straight Pacific title and Baltimore and Milwaukee turned in their usual winning weeks. But victory did not belong entirely to the spoiled. Central cellar-dweller Cleveland won three in a row, including one over playoff-minded Atlanta 115-107, as Cav Guard Austin Carr contributed 28 points. New York, jockeying for the odd home-game advantage in the playoffs, beat the Lakers 109-98 in Los Angeles, while Willis Reed continued to improve. In the Knicks' 115-111 victory over Phoenix, Reed gave his finest performance of the season, tallying 28 points and six rebounds. And there were losers, too, including the granddaddy of all time. The Philadelphia 76ers broke the NBA loss record, dropping their 68th game to Baltimore 120-115. The Bullets shared the statistical limelight that night as Elvin Hayes recorded a career-high point total of 43. Golden State, 2-2 for the week, lost to the Knicks despite 24-point performances by Rick Barry and Charlie Johnson.

ABA: Indiana kept on at its new hot pace in the West, extending its winning streak to 10 and pulling within four games of Utah. The first-place Stars were one of Indiana's victims, the Pacers disposing of them 113-106, thanks to 23 points from a still-injured George McGinnis. Utah was hardly a complacent leader, particularly Center Zelmo Beaty and Forward Jimmy Jones. Against Dallas, Beaty tossed in 26 points in 28 minutes, downing the Chaps 131-118. Jones joined the exclusive 10,000 career-point club while scoring 27 in the Stars' 112-103 win over Virginia. Only four other ABA players have topped that mark. Virginia, safely locked in third in the East, continued to get help from Julius Erving, the Dr. injecting opponents with 72 points in two games. New York cemented a fourth-place finish for itself and, as a result, an Eastern Division playoff spot. Needing only one more win or one more Memphis loss the Nets backed into the playoffs as the Tams obliged and lost to Kentucky 139-103. The defeat extended the Memphis losing streak to 11.

FENCING—NEW YORK UNIVERSITY won a record 10th NCAA title, outpointing second-place Pennsylvania 76-71.

GOLF—SANDRA HAYNIE won her first tournament of the season, firing a final-round 69 for a one-stroke victory over Marlene Hagge in the $25,000 Orange Blossom Classic in St. Petersburg, Fla.

HOCKEY—NHL: The ice belonged to Boston as the Bruins climbed over New York to take second place in the East. After ticking off that other New York franchise, the Islanders, 3-0, the Bruins beat Buffalo 4-1 with third-period goals by Carol Vadnais, Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr and nipped Detroit 5-4 in the final seconds. Esposito seemed well on his way to a fourth NHL scoring title, leading the league with 48 goals and 67 assists. Detroit and Buffalo remained in a seesaw battle for fourth place and a playoff spot with neither team able to make a strong move. Minnesota beat Toronto 5-2 and tied L.A. 2-2, overtaking Philadelphia to move into second place in the West. With the pressure of playoff scrambling over, Vancouver was relaxed enough to win three from California, L.A. and Pittsburgh. The Penguins met with bad luck, losing their goalie, Jim Rutherford, for at least two weeks to a knee injury. The New York Islanders Billy Smith set an NHL season record for penalty minutes dealt to goalies—42 skiddoo.

WHA: New England sustained its momentum and extended its winning streak to seven, picking up eight points on second-place Cleveland, which lost three. Ottawa and Alberta kept the pressure on fourth-place New York in the East and Minnesota in the West, the Nationals having knocked the Quebec Nordiques into the cellar earlier in the week. Ottawa's Tom Martin scored four goals in a 6-1 rout of Winnipeg. Los Angeles beat Cleveland 2-0 and moved into second place in the West, a point ahead of Houston. Philadelphia's Danny Lawson led WHA scoring, netting his 55th and 56th goals against Houston.

COLLEGE HOCKEY—WISCONSIN gained its first NCAA crown, beating Denver 4-2 (page 63).

HORSE RACING—In his debut as a 3-year-old, SECRETARIAT ($2.40), Ron Turcotte up, won the $27,750 Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct (page 22).

Racing to a three-length victory, LINDA'S CHIEF ($4) captured the 36th running of the $69,700 San Felipe Handicap at Santa Anita. Braulio Baeza rode the colt past Ancient Title in the stretch. Highly regarded Sham finished fourth (page 25).

PLATFORM TENNIS—JOHN MANGAN of Rye, N.Y. and ROBERT KINGSBURY of Scarsdale, N.Y. won their second straight national men's doubles title at the Cleveland Racquet Club, defeating Keith Jennings and Chauncey Steel III, both of Boston, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

SKIING—World Cup competition moved to Japan where DANIELE DEBERNARD of France won the slalom, MARILYN COCHRAN of the U.S. took the giant slalom, and Norway's ERIK HAKER and France's JEAN-NOEL AUGERT captured the men's giant slalom and slalom (page 75).

SWIMMING—ARIZONA STATE finished first in the women's collegiate swimming and diving championships with 395 points, swamping second-place Florida by 185 points, at Moscow, Idaho.

Chico state accumulated 262 points to win the NCAA college-division crown at Wayne State in Detroit.

TRACK & FIELD—In the USSR-USA meet ROBIN CAMPBELL, 14, of Washington, D.C., held off Soviet veteran Tamara Kazachkova to win the 880-yard run and then anchored her women's medley relay team to a 15-yard victory (page 70). The relay victory broke a 60-60 tie and gave the U.S. women their second straight upset over the Russians. Californian MARTHA WATSON set a national indoor record with a long jump of 21'4¾", beating her own mark by four inches. HERB WASHINGTON and Ivory Crockett edged Olympic champion Valery Borzov in the 60-yard dash, Washington posting a winning time of 6.0. CHERYL TOUSSAINT and FRED NEWHOUSE chalked up wins in the 600-yard run and PATTY JOHNSON of Seattle took the 60-yard hurdles in 7.6.

Frank Shorter, U.S. Olympic gold medalist, won the 28th Mainichi Marathon in Otsu, Japan with a time of 2:12.3, a record for the course.

MILEPOSTS—NAMED: As coach of the ABA Dallas Chaparrals, DAVE BROWN, 39, assistant coach of the Chaps. He replaces JAMES (Babe) MCCARTHY, 49, who resigned to become head coach at the University of Georgia.

RESIGNED: St. John's Basketball Coach FRANK MULZOFF, 44, two days after his team lost to Pennsylvania in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, because of a contract dispute. BRAD SNYDER, 34, left after a 30-71, four-year career as basketball coach at Northwestern.