BRIEFLY : OLYMPIC SCANDAL REACHES USOC.

The widening Olympic bribery scandal reached into the U.S. Olympic Committee for the first time on Thursday when a senior official resigned because of his relationship with the Salt Lake City bid committee.

In a statement, the USOC said it had accepted the resignation of Alfredo La Mont, the organization's senior director of international relations.

La Mont, who had been on what the statement called ``administrative leave,'' was the USOC's main contact official with international sports federations and other Olympic committees as well as with the International Olympic Committee.

``Earlier this week,'' the USOC statement quoted executive director Dick Schultz as saying, ``Mr. La Mont provided us with information concerning a previously undisclosed business relationship with the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee through the office of former SLOC President Tom Welch.

``We concluded that Mr. La Mont's activities, which he indicated he pursued independent of his USOC responsibilities, nonetheless constituted a conflict of interest.''

Nine IOC members face possible expulsion for ``serious'' offenses in the Salt Lake City bribery scandal and four others face minor charges, the Olympics' top official said in Lausanne, Switzerland.

IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch declined to identify the members or their offenses.

The Olympic bribery investigation in Salt Lake City has Japan fretting.

However, don't expect much of an inquiry into Nagano's 1998 bid - the records have vanished. The accounting book that kept records of the Nagano bidding expenses has mysteriously disappeared.

TENNIS: Bidding to take back the No. 1 ranking she lost to Lindsay Davenport last year, Martina Hingis woke up in time today in Sydney's Adidas International to defeat Barbara Schett of Austria 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5). Schett took 5-3 lead in the tiebreaker before losing the final four points. Davenport defeated Steffi Graf 6-2, 7-5.

At Hobart, Australia, top-seeded Julie Halard-Decugis reached the semifinals Thursday of the Tasmanian International with a 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over Zimbabwe's Cara Black.

Halard-Decugis will meet Chanda Rubin, who beat Sarah Pitkowski of France 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. The other semifinal will be between two unseeded players, Rita Grande of Italy and American Amy Frazier.

MOTOR SPORTS: Former USAC president Thomas W. Binford, who guided the group during its early years and was the Indianapolis 500's chief referee for 22 years, died in Indianapolis following a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 74.

GOLF: Tommy Tolles, who came within a whisker of losing his PGA Tour card last year, shot a 7-under-par 63 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the inaugural Sony Open in Honolulu.

Tour rookie Notah Begay III and Esteban Toledo, one of the few afternoon starters to conquer the windy course, were tied for second.

Jim Colbert, voted the Senior PGA Tour's comeback player of the year, will replace Jack Nicklaus at the Senior Skins Game in Honolulu.

BASEBALL: The Houston Astros traded catcher Brad Ausmus and reliever C.J. Nitkowski back to the Detroit Tigers for five players.

The two were dealt to Houston in December 1996 as part of a 10-player trade. In the latest deal, the Astros get pitchers Dean Crow, Mark Persails and Brian Powell, catcher Paul Bako and infielder Carlos Villalobos. Persails and Villalobos were minor-leaguers last season.

SOFTBALL: Former Oregon State softball coach Vickie Dugan, who won a federal gender-discrimination lawsuit against the school for firing her, has settled out of court for $1.09 million.