The Lady Goldbacks were looking for their first win of the season on Friday night when they hosted the Washingtonville Wizards. There were moments when the Goldback defense excelled and other times, the ball simply refused to go in the hoop for the Wizards. Either way, Newburgh was able to pick up their first win of the season, by a score of 54 – 17.

After the first quarter it would’ve been tough to predict such a lopsided score, as they were tied 9-9, but that’s when the Goldbacks started to pick up. In the second quarter, Daysha Simmons had 7 points and A’Mya Brock has 6 points.

“I tell them ‘we gotta keep moving.’ We switched from a zone to a man, so I think that messed them up a little bit,” said Newburgh’s head coach Arturo Santana.

It was late in the second quarter and Washingtonville still had not scored a point in the quarter. As their opportunities were dwindling down, Newburgh made a foul, allowing the Wizards to get to the free throw line. The first one missed. The second went it, but not without a whistle. Another Wizard had their foot on the line, during the shot, committing a violation and taking the point off the board, ensuring a scoreless second quarter for Washingtonville, and a lead of 25-9.

Daysha Simmons led the way for NFA, with 18 points. “We kept up the intensity and kept our heads up,” she said. “We played really good in the first half and got our first win of the season.”

A’Mya Brock had 11 points, Nyah Williams had 6 points, and Ameesah Cotten had 5 points. Overall nine different players had at least one field goal for NFA.

“We made shots, they didn’t make shots, our defense got a little better, our intensity picked up, and when you’re at home you have a tendency to play a little better,” said Santana.

“I tell them, ‘it doesn’t matter who scores, as long as they’re wearing our uniform.’ You could score zero points and have a great game. McKenzie Vondras didn’t score a point, but she played well on defense and she did her job, and that to me is huge. You don’t have to score to be successful.”

With the victory, NFA improves to 1-3 overall, while their divisional record remains at 0-2. Their next home game will be on Thursday December 19, against Red Hook.