Sports: In brief

In brief

Compiled from Times wires

V. Williams unhurt in weekend crash

Tennis player Venus Williams escaped injury when the car she was riding in crashed west of Palm Beach Gardens during the weekend, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

The crash occurred either late Saturday or early Sunday. Few details were available Tuesday because the crash report had not yet been submitted, said Sheriff's Lt. Jay Hart.

Also in the vehicle were Williams' half-brother, Richard Williams III, 37, and his wife, Ana, 36. They were treated and released from St. Mary's Medical Center on Sunday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

It was not known Tuesday who was driving the car.

MORE TENNIS: With her sister in Florida, Serena Williams needed a doubles partner. She found one of the best -- Martina Navratilova. Williams, who normally plays doubles with her sister, Venus, teamed up with Navratilova on Tuesday for a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Conchita Martinez and Nicole Pratt in the first round of the Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo.

GOLF: The LPGA announced that the 2001 Futures Tour Player of the Year, Beth Bauer of Tampa, captured the 2002 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award. This marks the first time since 1996 when Karrie Webb was named Rolex Rookie of the Year that a FUTURES Tour player has earned the honor. At the conclusion of last week's Safeway Classic in Beaverton, Ore., Bauer finished tied for 18th, ending the season with 772 rookie points, 155 in front of rival Natalie Gulbis of Sacramento, Calif. ... The United States took an 8-4 lead over Europe after the first day of the inaugural PING Junior Solheim Cup matches in Hopkins, Minn. Seminole's Brittany Lincicome won her morning and afternoon matches teamed with Amanda Blumenhurst of Arizona. Tampa's Mallory Code won her morning four-ball match with Whitney Wade of Kentucky. They lost to their European opponents in the afternoon foursome match. Today's singles matches conclude the event. ... The Florida men's team overcame a one-stroke deficit to Michigan State in the final round at the Inverness Golf Course in Toledo, Ohio, to win the season-opening tournament with a 26-over 878. Junior Camilo Villegas fired an even-par 71 on the final 18 to share medalist honors with Fresno State's Nick Watney at 2-over (215).

VOLLEYBALL: South Florida used a 23-kill performance by Michelle Collier to sweep Florida Atlantic 3-0 in the Bulls' second road match of the season. USF won 30-26, 30-27, 30-24 to improve to 8-3 on the season. FAU is 5-9.

BOXING: A daughter of Muhammad Ali was arrested on a charge of trying to shoplift bedding from a store in Rossford, Ohio, last week. Hana Yasmeen Ali, 26, of Berrien Springs, Mich., was scheduled to appear in Perrysburg Municipal Court today on a misdemeanor charge of attempted theft. Employees at the Linens & Things store also reported that she tried to tamper with a price tag on a $69.99 picture frame. Ali, one of nine children of the former heavyweight champ, wrote a book, More Than a Hero, about her father.

OLYMPICS: The Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, which once hoped merely to break even on a $1.3-billion budget, wound up with a $101-million profit, organizers said. Fraser Bullock, chief executive officer of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, said the surplus was almost double the $56-million projected in April, two months after the games ended. A SLOC statement said the profit grew through unused contingency funds, cost cuts on venue restoration and savings on ceremonies and litigation.

-- TIMES WIRES, DAVE THEALL