Sebastian Janikowski and the Oakland Raiders agreed on a $16 million, four-year deal yesterday that is the richest contract for a kicker in NFL history, the team said.

Janikowski will be guaranteed $9 million in the deal, a person familiar with the contract said on condition of anonymity because the team did not announce terms. ESPN first reported the contract yesterday.

Janikowski was eligible to be an unrestricted free agent if the Raiders did not sign him to a contract or place the transition or franchise tag on him by Feb. 25. But the team was able to lock him up by giving him the same contract All Pro punter Shane Lechler got a year ago to stay out of free agency.

Janikowski is coming off the best season of his 10-year career. He made 26 of 29 field goals, with his only misses coning from 45, 57 and 66 yards. He made six kicks of at least 50 yards, including a 61-yarder that was the fourth longest in NFL history.

SHORTS

Basketball: Shenneika Smith scored 23 points and Da'Shena Stevens added 21 to help No. 22 and host St. John's upset No. 4 Notre Dame, 76-71, last night for its first ever victory over a top-5 team. The Red Storm improved to 21-5 overall and 9-4 in the Big East. The Fighting Irish fell to 23-2 and 10-2.

Tennis: Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki rallied from 5-1 deficit in the second set to beat Dominika Cibulkova, 6-2, 7-6 (2), in the second round of the Dubai Championships at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Obituary: Sylvia Pressler, a trailblazing judge whose 1973 ruling opened Little League baseball to girls, has died. She was 75. Pressler died Monday morning at the family's home in Sparta, according to her husband, David Pressler. She had been battling lymphoma and was scheduled to begin chemotherapy treatments yesterday, he said.