FOOTBALL

MOSS PASSES PHYSICAL FOR REDSKINS

Santana Moss passed his physical with the Washington Redskins and is expected to introduced at a news conference today once the trade for Laveranues Coles becomes official.

Team officials said the wide receiver passed his physical Monday night, but Coles wasn’t due to report to the Jets for his exam until this morning.

The Redskins have to pay Coles the final $5 million of a $13 million signing bonus. Coles will count $9.3 million against Washington’s salary cap this season, virtually eliminating any major acquisitions for the rest of free agency. Moss is entering the final year of his contract, and the Redskins will begin talks to sign him to a new deal.

GIANTS SIGN KICKER FEELY FOR TWO YEARS

Former Atlanta place-kicker Jay Feely became the third free agent to join the Giants this offseason, signing a two-year contract on yesterday. Feely, 29, hit 18-of-23 field goal attempts last season with the Falcons, the longest from 47 yards. He was perfect on 40 extra points. He’ll be the Giants’ third placekicker in as many seasons, replacing 37-year-old Steve Christie. Matt Bryant was the kicker in 2003. In other news, the Giants expect free agent receiver Plaxico Burress to visit today.

LB BELL SIGNS SEVEN-YEAR DEAL WITH CHIEFS

Linebacker Kendrell Bell, the defensive rookie of the year four years ago, signed a seven-year contract with the defensively troubled Kansas City Chiefs yesterday.

Bell, 6-foot-1, 257 pounds, was one of the last name free agents on the markets even though he played just three games last season with Pittsburgh. His best season came as a rookie in 2001, when made the Pro Bowl after recording 88 tackles, nine sacks and a pair of forced fumbles in his first season. Bell was troubled with shoulder and groin injuries last week and the Giants passed on him as a free agent after a physical.

VIKINGS NAB FREE-AGENT CB SMOOT

Fred Smoot agreed to terms on a six-year contract yesterday with the Minnesota Vikings, sending the top cornerback left on the free agent market to a team that has had persistent defensive problems in recent seasons. Smoot had 16 interceptions over four years with the Washington Redskins and was selected as an alternate to the Pro Bowl last season. His deal is worth $34 million, including a $10.8 million signing bonus, according to ESPN.com and FOXSports.com.

BASEBALL

BENSON LEADS METS PAST ORIOLES

Mike Piazza and David Wright each had RBI doubles in the third inning as the Mets beat the Orioles 7-4 yesterday in exhibition play.

Kris Benson allowed three hits and a run in three innings for the Mets, and Kaz Matsui made a spectacular diving catch with two outs in the second inning. Matsui is making the transition to second after committing a league-worst 23 errors at shortstop last year. He has not made an error this spring.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

UCONN WINS BIG EAST TOURNAMENT

Connecticut is back atop the Big East again. Led by the inside-outside combination of Barbara Turner and Ann Strother, the no. 13 Huskies defeated Rutgers 67-51 last night to win the Big East tournament. Turner, the tournament MVP, anchored a dominating inside game for the three-time defending national champion Huskies (23-7), who were back in the title game for the first time since 2003.

The ninth-ranked Scarlet Knights (25-6), known for their defense and transition game, could get no closer than nine points. Rutgers shot just 32% and got few second chances against the Huskies, who grabbed 30 defensive boards.

SOCCER

CHELSEA, AC MILAN, LYON ADVANCE IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Chelsea, AC Milan, and Lyon reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League yesterday.

John Terry’s 76th-minute header lifted English leader Chelsea to a 4-2 victory over FC Barcelona, the Spanish league leader. Chelsea advanced 5-4 on aggregate despite losing to Barcelona 2-1 in Spain two weeks ago. AC Milan ousted Manchester United 1-0, advancing 2-0 on aggregate. Argentina forward Hernan Crespo scored the winning goal in both games. Three-time defending French champion Lyon demolished Werder Bremen 7-2 behind a hat trick by Sylvain Wiltord, advancing 10-2.

Four more games are on tap today, with the winners reaching the quarterfinals. Juventus trails nine-time champs Real Madrid 1-0; Bayern Munich has a 3-1 lead against Arsenal, Liverpool leads Bayer Leverkusen 3-1, and host Monaco trails PSV Eindhoven 1-0. In the remaining round of 16, Porto plays Inter Milan on March 15. The two teams drew 1-1 in Portugal.

The Champions League quarterfinals are April 5-6 and April 12-13.The semifinals are April 26-27 and May 3-4, and the final is set for May 25 in Istanbul, Turkey.

CYCLING

BOONEN CAPTURES SECOND STAGE OF PARIS-NICE RACE

Belgium’s Tom Boonen won a leg of the Paris-Nice cycling race for the second straight day, capturing yesterday’s shortened stage in which Lance Armstrong finished in the chasing pack. Armstrong is using the race as a warmup for this summer’s bid for a seventh straight Tour de France title.

The Texan was 90th yesterday, 21 seconds behind. He is in 72nd place overall, 1 minute, 35 seconds behind Boonen, the new leader. The stage was reduced from 118 miles to 28 miles – starting in Aigueperse instead of La Chatre – because of heavy overnight snow. Boonen is three seconds ahead of Dutch rider Erik Dekker in the overall standings and five seconds ahead of Team CSC’s Kurt-Asle Arvesen.

Today’s third stage features five climbs in a 108-mile ride from Thiers to Chambon-sur-Lignon, though organizers may shorten that stage, too. The race ends Sunday.

– Associated Press