BRIEFLY.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

Evans' record topped

Olympic champion Laure Manaudou of France broke Janet Evans' 18-year-old world record in the 400-meter freestyle Friday, finishing in 4 minutes, 3.03 seconds at the French national championships.

Manaudou beat the time of 4:03.85 set by Evans in winning the 400 free at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The American won threegolds as a 16-year-old at those Olympics and one at the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Evans' record was second-oldest world mark in the sport.

Evans still holds the 800 and 1,500 free world records. The 1,500, in which she became the first woman to break 16 minutes on March 29, 1988, remains the sport's oldest world record.

FOOTBALL: The California National Organization for Women sent a letter to USC president Steven Sample and coach Pete Carroll expressing ``outrage'' for ``repeated gender-based crimes committed by USC football players that are ignored by the administration and swept under the rug by local law enforcement.''

Executive director Helen Grieco said in the letter that, ``the treatment by the university of the crimes committed by football players sends a clear message to women on your campus that their personal safety and dignity is not as important as the success of the football team.''

-- Scott Wolf

--The Miami Dolphins officially acquired quarterback Joey Harrington from Detroit for an undisclosed conditional draft pick.

--Onterrio Smith, a Minnesota Vikings running back who sat out last NFL season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, signed a contract with the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

HOCKEY: Finland blanked the United States 4-0 to stay unbeaten at the World Championships in Riga, Latvia, while Olympic champion Sweden also closed in on a quarterfinal spot by beating Belarus 4-1.

TENNIS: Top-ranked Roger Federer needed five match points to beat Spanish qualifier Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-5, setting up a Rome Masters clay court semifinal with David Nalbandian.

Also, Andy Roddick was eliminated by French teenager Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-3 and Rafael Nadal beat 10th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez 6-4, 6-3.

LACROSSE: A second round of DNA testing in the Duke University rape case came back with the same result as the first -- no conclusive match to any member of the team, defense attorneys said.