BRIEFLY.

Byline: - Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Venus ends losing streak to Serena

Venus Williams ended a streak of six consecutive losses to younger sister Serena Williams by winning 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) in the quarterfinals Tuesday of the Nasdaq-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla.

In the tiebreaker, Serena pushed a forehand into the net to fall behind 9-8, then flung her racket and buried her face in her hands. She sailed a backhand long on match point, and Venus raised her arms in jubilation.

In the semifinals Thursday, Venus Williams will play No. 2 Maria Sharapova, who interrupted Justine Henin-Hardenne's comeback from a seven-month layoff by winning 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-2.

Reaching the men's quarterfinals were top-ranked Roger Federer and six-time Key Biscayne champion Andre Agassi.

Federer was pushed to three sets for the second match in a row but beat Mario Ancic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Agassi endured a grueling first set and beat French Open champion Gaston Gaudio 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.

FOOTBALL: Former Arizona State running back Loren Wade was charged with first-degree murder, hours after coach Dirk Koetter acknowledged that he may have misread signs that the player was headed for trouble.

Wade, 21, has been held without bond since Saturday, when he was arrested at the slaying site outside a Scottsdale, Ariz., nightspot. Witnesses say they saw him approach the car of Brandon Falkner, another former Sun Devils player, and exchange words with Falkner before a single gunshot rang out.

Falkner, 25, was killed by a bullet to the head.

At a news conference in Tempe, Ariz., Koetter said he had been concerned by Wade's apparently troubled behavior since September but never interpreted any of it as cause for alarm.

The red flags included verbal threats against two female athletes and two other incidents on which the coach declined to elaborate.

BASKETBALL: The American Basketball Association granted an expansion franchise to Thousand Oaks that will be named the California Terminators. The team is set to begin play in the 2005-06 season.

HOCKEY: The NHL wants the players' association to disavow reports it is threatening to decertify agents should they represent replacement players.

The league made the request in a March 24 letter - obtained by the Associated Press - addressed to NHLPA lawyer Ian Pulver and signed by NHL vice president Bill Daly. Daly wrote that the union's threats to punish player agents, if true, violate the National Labor Relations Act as well as the league's now-expired collective-bargaining agreement.

--Carolina Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette will lead the U.S. men's team at the hockey world championships starting next month in Austria, USA Hockey said.

--NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell and Montreal hockey writer Yvon Pedneault were appointed to the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee.

DOPING: The World Anti-Doping Agency appointed 13 members to its newly formed athlete committee, including Olympic and world champion swimmer Janet Evans (USC) and former hockey star Viacheslav Fetisov.

The purpose of the committee is to allow WADA closer contact with athletes and to give the agency better insight into their concerns regarding doping.

FIGURE SKATING: Michelle Kwan (UCLA) added another title to her impressive list at the Marshalls U.S. Skating Challenge, the final event of this season as preparations begin for the 2006 Winter Olympics.