State Colleges: The impact

The NCAA announced late Thursday that all championships for winter and spring sports are canceled because of concern for the coronavirus, an announcement that followed the lead of so many college conferences. Leagues already canceled winter postseason tournaments and many — including the American Athletic Conference, Ivy League, and NESCAC — had halted the spring season.

Around the state, the impact of cancellations was felt by teams still competing in winter postseason events.

BRIDGEPORT

The school was set to host the men’s basketball NCAA Division II East Regional Saturday through Tuesday. The Purple Knights (24-4) were the No. 1 seed in the regional.

UCONN

The No. 5 ranked women’s basketball team was expected to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs after winning the American Athletic Conference Tournament Monday night. The men’s program was set to play in the AAC Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas with an eye on securing a postseason bid, while the hockey program was scheduled to play at Maine in the Hockey East playoffs this weekend.

FAIRFIELD

The women’s basketball team beat Siena in the first game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament Thursday. The Stags were scheduled to face Marist in the semifinals Friday afternoon.

HARTFORD

The men’s basketball team has never advanced to the NCAA Tournament, yet the Hawks were one victory away from earning a spot. Hartford (18-15) was scheduled to play at Vermont Saturday morning in the America East Champi

onship game.

QUINNIPIAC

The Bobcats were set to host an ECAC men’s hockey playoff series against rival Yale before the Bulldogs withdrew. Quinnipiac was to instead host Princeton Friday night, but the ECAC canceled the series before the NCAA’s decision. Both of the school’s basketball programs were in Atlantic City for the MAAC tournament — the women were set to play Manhattan at

2:30 p.m. Thursday, the men matched with Monmouth at 9:30 p.m.

SACRED HEART

The men’s hockey team was bidding for its first NCAA Tournament appearance as it prepared to face Robert Morris in the Atlantic Hockey playoffs Thursday night. The women’s basketball team was in the semifinals of the NEC Tournament, scheduled to play No. 1 Robert Morris Thursday night.

SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT

The Owls had three athletes

— Avery Fornaciari, Andrew Buehler, Leo Laporte — at the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships in Ohio Thursday. The school also had athletes scheduled to compete in the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships this weekend in Alabama.

WESLEYAN

The Cardinals won their first NESCAC men’s hockey title with a win over rival Trinity Sunday. That sent Wesleyan into the Division III NCAA Tournament for the first time, with the Cardinals set to play at Babson

Saturday.

YALE

When the Ivy League canceled its basketball tournaments, the women’s team saw its season end while the men’s team punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs never got a chance to play in the Big Dance. Meanwhile, the men’s hockey team was schedule to face Quinnipiac in the ECAC playoffs before pulling out Wednesday.

paul.doyle @hearstmediact.com