Basketball Recap: Dynamic Duo of Taylor Tessner and Essence Rodgers Lead Blacksburg to Victory

Blacksburg won the last time they faced Liberty and things went their way on Friday too. The Blacksburg Wildcats put the hurt on the Liberty Red Devils with a sharp 48-28 win. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 33-12.

Blacksburg was led to victory by Essence Rodgers and Taylor Tessner. Rodgers posted 15 points and four steals, while Tessner put up 12 points in addition to five rebounds and four steals. Rodgers' evening made it five games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Paris Mayee, who had seven points and five steals.

Wildcats

Offensive Rebounds

02/02/24 vs Greer Middle College	30
01/23/24 @ Chesnee	24
01/26/24 vs Greenville Tech Charter	23
12/20/24 @ Liberty	11
01/16/24 @ Greer Middle College	23

Blacksburg smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've posted since back in February.

Despite the defeat, Liberty saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Madison Henderson posted six points and ten rebounds. Another player making a difference was Reagan Swafford, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Blacksburg is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 7-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.4 points per game. As for Liberty, their loss dropped their record down to 1-7.

Blacksburg didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 52-33 victory against Bethune-Bowman on the 21st. As for Liberty, they will be taking part in a tournament against Crescent at 6:15 p.m. on December 27th.