Tracking the Bears

• Just days removed from playing a thriller in the regular-season finale, Coast Guard Academy and Springfield College will meet in Wednesday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal at 7 p.m. The Bears are hosting a quarterfinal for the first time since 2008. They rallied for a 43-42 win over Springfield Saturday to finish 14-6 in conference play and earn the third seed. The sixth-seeded Pride finished at 14-11, 10-10. They posted the second highest win total in program history with 19 victories and swept the season series with Springfield, winning 65-61 on the road on Jan. 18.

• Eight Coast Guard cadets received all-academic team honors from the NEWMAC. Senior Marc McAndrew (swimming) made the academic team for the third year in a row. Juniors Caitlyn Gever (swimming), Carolyn Slife (swimming), Dani Knox (basketball) and Tyler Kotchman (swimming) earned honors for the second straight year. Other award winners: senior Carol Yin (swimming), sophomore Abigail Isaacs (swimming) and junior Jamie Waterman (basketball).

• Junior Christian Brindamour was selected as the Men's Swimmer of the Meet at the NEWMAC Swimming and Diving Championships last weekend in Worcester, Mass. Brindamour won the 50 freestyle (20.30 seconds) and 100 freestyle (45.23) in pool record-setting times. His 100 time was 1.25 seconds faster than the nearest swimmer. He also helped the Bears take third in the 200 medley relay (1:33.85) and fourth in the 400 freestyle (3:08.66), joining sophomore Ben Morseth, freshman Elliot VanDeren and sophomore Timothy Dion in the latter event. Morseth also placed fourth in the 200 backstroke in 1:54.05. Coast Guard finished third overall.

• At the NEWMAC women's championship, junior Darlene Sao was Coast Guard's top finisher, placing third in the 100 freestyle in 52.88. The Bears took seventh overall. Junior Sara Cantrell was fifth in the 3-meter diving event with a score of 451.35 in the finals.

Mariners in the spotlight

• The Mitchell College men's basketball team heads into the New England Collegiate Conference tournament as the second seed after sharing the regular-season title for the first time in the program's history. The Mariners (17-7, 12-4) received a first-round bye as did top-seeded Elms College (14-11, 12-4), which will host the semifinals and championship rounds this Friday and Saturday in Chicopee, Mass. In Friday's semifinal, Mitchell will play the winner of tonight's quarterfinal between No. 3 Becker College and No. 6 Daniel Webster College. The Mariners already have set program records for NECC and overall wins in Division III.

Senior Joshua Ford was named the NECC Player of the Week for the fifth time this season - the most by player in league's six-year history - after averaging 22.5 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in two games last week. Ford has recorded more double-doubles (22) than any player in NCAA Division I, II or III. He's the NECC's leading scorer (22.6) and rebounder (12.5).

• The NECC tournament starts tonight for the third-seeded women's basketball team. Mitchell (15-9, 15-3) hosts sixth-seeded Bay Path (8-17, 7-11) at 7 p.m. at the Yarnall Athletic Center in New London. The Mariners swept the regular season series, winning 64-58 and 74-63. Forward Caycee Williams averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds in those two games. Top-seeded Regis (21-4, 18-0), which went undefeated in conference play for the third straight season, hosts the semifinals and finals on Friday and Saturday in Weston, Mass.

Camel highlights

• Connecticut College's women's basketball team had a successful season, winning four more games than last year and qualifying for the New England Small College Athletic Conference tournament for the second time in three seasons. The Camels lost to Trinity, 79-76, in the quarterfinals Saturday to finish at 14-11 record. Senior Caitlin Cimino ended up third in the school's all-time blocks list with 126. Tara Gabelman finished her career fourth on the program's all-time rebounding list with 808 and eighth on the scoring list with 1,194 career points.

• The men's squash team captured the Conroy Division championship at the CSA Nationals and finished ranked 25th in the country in Division III. Co-captains Hunter Bolling and Mike Coscarelli led the Camels (14-12).

• Junior captain Leah Puklin earned All-NESCAC women's squash second team honors. She excelled on and off the court, posting a 12-10 record and maintaining a 3.7 grade point average.

• For the first time since 2009, the men's hockey team qualified for the NESCAC tournament, posting a 5-1-1 record in the last seven games. Seventh-seeded Conn (9-13-2, 8-9-1) plays at No. 2 Amherst (14-7-3) on Saturday. The teams tied 1-1 during the regular season. Junior J.C. Cangelosi is the top offensive threat for the Camels with 15 goals and 10 assists.

• In women's hockey, the eighth-seeded Camels (10-11-3) are making their seventh straight appearance in the NESCAC tournament, visiting top-seeded Middlebury (17-3-4) on Saturday. They were swept during the regular season, 3-2 (OT) and 3-0. Freshman defender Jane Pagano was named the NESCAC Player of the Week after contributing two goals and an assist while leading the Camels to a 1-1 record last week. She shares the team lead with nine goals.

Around the region

• UConn senior Shabazz Napier was named to the American Athletic Conference honor roll for the eighth time this season. He averaged 16 points, seven rebounds and 4.5 assists in two games last week. In other news, the Huskies dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 after losing to SMU.

• Junior right-hander Conor Gleason looked sharp in his second appearance of the baseball season, pitching two scoreless innings and earning the win in nationally-ranked Franklin Pierce's 2-0 shutout of Bridgeport on Saturday in Myrtle Beach, S.C. A Wheeler High School graduate, Gleason allowed one hit, hit a batter and struck out two. He attended the Community College of Rhode Island before heading to Franklin Pierce.

• St. Michael's College forward Alexa Long, a senior from Waterford, earned a spot on the Northeast-10 Conference honor roll for women's basketball for the sixth time this season. Long averaged 18 points and 7.5 rebounds while leading the Purple Knights to a 1-1 record last week. In her final home game of her career Saturday, Long had 12 points and six rebounds in a 64-63 overtime win over Southern New Hampshire. She is averaging career-highs in points (13.2) and rebounds (8.8). Her 212 rebounds represent the highest single-season total by a SMC player since the 2002-03 season. In the school record books, she's seventh in blocks (68) and 12th in rebounds (595) in her career.

- Gavin Keefe