The UCF Knights were well represented over the weekend as women’s basketball head coach Joi Williams won a gold medal with the USA Women’s U-18 National Team and alum Tiki James took sixth place in the 100-meter hurdles at the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships.

– Gold for Williams –

Serving as an assistant coach in her first appearance working with USA Basketball, Williams helped lead the USA Women’s U-18 National Team to a 5-0 record at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

On Sunday, the U.S. team scored a huge 81-38 win over Brazil in the gold-medal game of the FIBA America U-18 Championship. Six players scored at least nine points in the game en route to the title.

Williams, the 2009 Conference USA Coach of the Year, coached alongside Florida State’s Sue Semrau and head coach Jennifer Rizzoti out of Hartford. Williams enters her fourth season with the Knights later this year when UCF opens the 2010-11 season at the Women’s National Invitational Tournament for the first time in program history.

– Sixth for James –

After recently wrapping up her track and field career as a UCF Knight this past season, James posted a time of 13.25 seconds on Saturday in the 100-meter hurdles finals of the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

That effort was good for sixth place behind professionals Lolo Jones (12.69), Kellie Wells (12.84), Damu Cherry (12.86) Ginnie Powell (12.90) and Tiffany Ofili (13.04) despite running into a stiff wind of 2.1 meters per second. James, who holds the UCF school record in the event, qualified sixth for the finals in 13.24 seconds.

Former college teammate Jackie Coward competed against James in the same semifinal heat and missed qualifying for the finals with a time of 13.50. Two weeks ago Coward finished her sophomore season as an outdoor All-American at the NCAA Track & Field Championships.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –