A roundup of the week March 15-21

COLLEGE BASKETBALL—THE UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA defeated defending champion Florida Southern 73-63 to win the NCAA Division II title, in Springfield, Mass.

Wabash (Ind.) College won the NCAA Division III title, beating defending champion Potsdam (N.Y.) State 83-62, in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Midland of Texas beat Miami-Dade North of Florida 93-88 to win the national junior college title in Hutchinson, Kans.

Moberly (Mo.) Junior college won the women's national junior college championship, defeating defending champion Louisburg (N.C.) 73-72 in Overland Park, Kans.

PRO BASKETBALL—The week went from bad to worse for New York. On Tuesday Midwest Division leader San Antonio defeated the Knicks 114-91, as New York fans booed Knick newcomer Paul Westphal after cheering him in his debut three nights earlier. Next, the Knicks suspended Forward Sly Williams, who had skipped a practice, without pay for what they termed "violations of club policy." It was the second time in six weeks. Williams' suspension was lifted two days later, but then Williams skipped the next scheduled practice. He showed up for Saturday night's game against Atlanta and scored four points, but Atlanta won 104-98. Atlantic Division leader Boston stretched its winning streak to 15 with a 123-111 romp at Philadelphia. Boston also beat Washington (98-97 in overtime), San Antonio (134-110) and Atlanta (113-109). Pacific leader Los Angeles pulled 2½ games away from second-place Seattle with wins over Portland (120-108), Utah (120-112), Dallas (112-106) and Houston (107-102). Last week's 74-foot basket by New Jersey's Darwin Cook was nothing compared to the 80-footer tossed in by Dallas' Brad Davis against Chicago. But the Bulls went on to win 102-92. Central Division-leading Milwaukee Bucks beat Philadelphia (106-91), Cleveland (119-97) and New Jersey (102-86).

CROSS-COUNTRY—MOHAMMED KEDIR of Ethiopia outran Alberto Salazar to win the world championship in Rome. Kedir was timed in 33:40 for the 12,000-meter course and Salazar finished in 33:44.

FENCING—WAYNE STATE won its third NCAA title in four years, defeating Clemson 85-77 at South Bend, Ind. Wayne's NEIL HICK won the saber competition, while ALEXANDER FLOM of George Mason University won the foil and PETER SCHIFRIN of San Jose State the épée.

GOLF—JERRY PATE shot an eight-under-par 280 to win the $500,000 Tournament Players Championship at Ponte Vedra, Fla. by two strokes over Scott Simpson and Brad Bryant.

Nancy Lopez-Melton shot a nine-under-par 279 to defeat Sandra Haynie by five strokes in the $200,000 Pro-Am tournament at Las Vegas.

Defending champion SALLY LITTLE'S four-under-par 288 beat Donna Horton White by two strokes in the rain-delayed $150,000 Olympia Gold tournament at Industry, Calif.

HOCKEY—Remember Loseipeg, the team that won only nine of 80 games last season? Forget it. Loseipeg now is Winnipeg, a team with a 31-29-13 record and a lock on second place in the Norris Division. No team in NHL history has improved so much in one season. The Jets won all four of their games, stunning St. Louis 7-3 and Minnesota 3-2 on the road and then routing Toronto 7-0 and Detroit 4-0 at home. Norris Division leader Minnesota also lost to Montreal, 5-1, as the Canadiens clinched first place in the Adams Division. St. Louis defeated Detroit 7-4 as Joe Mullen (page 52) scored his 20th goal. Mullen had another as St. Louis tied the Patrick Division-leading Islanders 3-3. Los Angeles continued its revival under new Coach Don Perry, tying Edmonton 3-3 and then routing Calgary 9-4 and Pittsburgh 7-5. With two weeks to play, the matchups for the best-of-five opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs were pretty much set: Montreal-Quebec, Boston-Buffalo, Islanders-Pittsburgh, Rangers-Philadelphia, Minnesota-Chicago or St. Louis, Winnipeg-Chicago or St. Louis, Edmonton-Los Angeles, Calgary-Vancouver.

MOTOR SPORTS—NELSON PIQUET, driving a Brabham, defeated Keke Rosberg, in a Williams, to win the Brazilian Grand Prix Formula I in Rio de Janeiro. Piquet averaged 114.086 mph over the 196.938 miles.

INDOOR SOCCER—MISL: Buffalo upset Western Division leader St. Louis 6-2 as Rookie Germain Iglesias scored three goals. New York, which leads the Eastern Division, beat Cleveland 3-2 one night but lost to last-place Philadelphia 4-3 the next afternoon. Leading scorer Don Ebert's three goals led St. Louis to a 6-5 victory over Cleveland.

SWIMMING—Tracy Caulkins won all five of her races and Kathy Treible swept the breaststroke events to lead FLORIDA to the first NCAA women's championship, at Gainesville, Fla. Florida won 13 events overall and scored 505 points, easily beating second-place Stanford, which scored 383. The University of North Carolina's SUE WALSH set a U.S. women's record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.81, breaking Linda Jazek's 1978 mark of 54.94.

Jill Sterkel set an. American women's record in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48.61 and won four other events to lead TEXAS to its second consecutive AIAW title, in Austin. Texas outscored runner-up Florida State 755-375.

TENNIS—IVAN LENDL defeated Tim Mayotte 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 to win the $300,000 Strasbourg Indoor tournament in France.

Guillermo Vilas won the $250,000 Grand Prix in Rotterdam, beating top-seeded Jimmy Connors 0-6, 6-2, 6-4.

MILEPOSTS—FIRED: As coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, PAT QUINN, 39. He was replaced by Bob McCammon, 40, the coach of Philadelphia's farm team in Portland, Maine, whom Quinn had replaced as Flyers coach on Jan. 30, 1979.

DIED: KATHY LINNEY, 36, LPGA touring pro and 1974 New Jersey women's amateur champion; of cancer; in Houston.