West Spotlight | Puckett stars as Flames win again

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The Rockingham Flames made it a double win NBL1 West weekend without Amy Atwell with Sara Puckett starring again as they handed the Warwick Senators a second loss in under 24 hours with the 73-62 victory.

Both teams arrived at Warwick Stadium having played on Friday night with Rockingham beating the Eastern Suns even with Atwell on Australian Gangurrus 3x3 duties while the Senators went down in overtime to the East Perth Eagles.

That was just Warwick's second loss of the season with both at the hands of the Eagles as they attempted to bounce back against the Flames on their home floor.

It was a tight affair for the first half with Rockingham only leading by two points at quarter-time and by one at the half with Jayda Clark already having 20 points for the Senators, but the Flames took control from there.

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Rockingham outscored Warwick 35 points to 25 in the second half and while they didn’t light it up offensively themselves, the Flames did hold the Senators to 8/28 shooting in the half and into another nine turnovers.

That saw Rockingham secure the 13-point win to make it a pair of wins inside 24 hours to bounce back from last week's shock loss to the shorthanded Mandurah Magic and improve to a 5-2 record with the Senators now 4-3 after two defeats.

Rockingham made it a double win weekend with new import Sara Puckett delivering 24 points, 12 rebounds and two steals to be a +13 in her 35 minutes.

Stef Berberabe was also +13 in 33 minutes and delivered 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals while Teige Morrell contributed 12 points, eight boards, three assists and two steals, and Tiana Wilson-Palmer 10 points and three assists.

In their second loss in less than 24 hours, Jayda Clark top-scored for Warwick with 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals with 4/8 three-point shooting.

Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard added 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Chloe Forster 10 points, six assists and five boards, and Kyana Weir 10 points and four rebounds.

Coming off their overtime loss to East Perth the previous night, Warwick were back home and started well to go on an 8-0 run the first quarter to lead by seven, but then the Flames fired back with 10 consecutive points to lead 21-19 by the end of the first quarter.

Rockingham had 14 points in the paint to four in a contrast of playing styles at least to begin the game before it remained a tight affair in the second frame with the Senators scoring 18 points and the Flames 17.

That saw Rockingham narrowly leading 38-37 on the back of shooting 46 per cent from the field to 35 but the Senators made 7/20 from three-point range to the 2/15 from the Flames who were without Amy Atwell.

Jayda Clark already had 20 points to the half for Warwick while Chloe Forster had just three on 1/5 shooting with Sara Puckett delivering 15 for Rockingham.

The Flames took charge after half-time including 19 points to nine in the third quarter while forcing the Senators into six turnovers and just 3/16 field goal shooting including 1/6 from beyond the arc.

That saw the Rockingham lead out to double-figures and they maintained that most of the last term for the eventual 11-point victory while holding Warwick to 25 points the entire second half on 8/28 shooting from the field.

The Senators will now attempt to bounce back from their two losses in the space of 24 hours at home to the Willetton Tigers next Friday while Rockingham will play host to the Joondalup Wolves on Saturday night.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 6

WARWICK SENATORS 62 (Clark 27, Clinch Hoycard 12, Weir 10, Forster 10)

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 73 (Puckett 24, Berberabe 17, Morrell 12)