Sports briefs 4/10/04

College

Duke's Alana Beard won the inaugural women's John R. Wooden Award given to college basketball's top college basketball player Friday . Beard, a three-time All-American, led the Blue Devils to a 30-4 record and the No. 1 ranking in the season's final Associated Press poll. The 5-foot-11 senior from Shreveport, La., previously was voted player of the year by the AP and won the Wade Trophy. Beard, who averaged 19.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists, received the Wooden Award in a ceremony at the California Yacht Club.

Vance Joseph, an assistant Colorado football coach suspended last week for undisclosed reasons, has reportedly interviewed for a job at Bowling Green. Joseph spent Thursday at Bowling Green's spring practice, coach and former Colorado assistant Gregg Brandon told the Rocky Mountain News. Colorado and Bowling Green officials would not confirm the report. Colorado has not said why Joseph, 31, was put on paid leave pending "an investigation of possible violation of university policy."

Colorado center David Harrison abruptly canceled a news conference Friday, saying he needs more time to decide whether to forgo his senior season to enter the NBA draft. The deadline for early draft declaration is May 10. Harrison, a 7-footer from Nashville, Tenn., is the school's career leader in blocked shots and field-goal percentage. He averaged 17.1 points and 8.8 rebounds a game this season, which ended with a first-round loss to Oregon in the NIT.

Quarterback Brad Smith, tailback Beau Viehmann, linebacker James Kinney and defensive lineman Atiyyah Ellison will be the captains for Missouri during the 2004 season, coach Gary Pinkel said. The captains were chosen by a vote of the team. All four will be seniors except Smith, a junior who is listed on several preseason Heisman Trophy watch lists and was an honorable mention All-American last season. In just two seasons, he has accounted for 6,745 total yards. Kinney will be a captain for the third straight season. He needs just 94 tackles to become Missouri's career leader. Ellison was third team All Big 12 last season. Viehmann played in 13 games last season and was named Missouri's walk-on player of the year.

Football

The Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals swapped first-round draft picks in a trade Friday that also sent cornerback Deltha O'Neal to Cincinnati and gave the Bengals an additional fourth-round pick from Denver. The deal will allow Denver to move up to the No. 17 overall selection in the first round, while the Bengals received the Broncos' No. 24 overall slot in the first round.

Tennis

Bothered by a sore knee, Serena Williams made 42 unforced errors and lost for the first time since June. She dropped a quarterfinals match in the Bausch & Lomb Championships to Russian Nadia Petrova. Seventh-seeded Petrova beat No. 2 Williams 6-2, 6-3 in 77 minutes, ending the American's eight-match winning streak to begin her comeback from an eight-month injury layoff. Also advancing were world No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne, Amelie Mauresmo and Lindsay Davenport. In the semifinals Saturday, Petrova will take on fourth-seeded Davenport, who recorded two victories Friday. The other semifinal will feature Henin-Hardenne against third-seeded Mauresmo. Top-seeded Henin-Hardenne defeated Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-4, 6-3.

When the U.S. Davis Cup team needed a comeback, Andy Roddick came through. Roddick beat Thomas Enqvist 6-4, 7-5, 6-2, leaving the United States and Sweden tied 1-all at the end of a long opening day in their best-of-five quarterfinal. American Mardy Fish lost the first match to Jonas Bjorkman, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. Counting four rain delays that totaled more than three hours, the two matches took nearly nine hours to complete. Bjorkman must bounce back quickly for his doubles match Saturday with Thomas Johansson against top-ranked Bob and Mike Bryan.-- From wire reports