The 18-year-old was named in the Steel squad late last week and capped off a great week with a superb display of shooting.
She landed all 49 of her attempts to help keep Otago's prospects of making the top four alive.
But despite the towering goal shoot's faultless performance, it was wing defence Claire Kersten who picked up the player of the day award.
The busy midcourter came on in the second quarter and made an immediate impact.
She is deceptively fast and used her pace to surprise her opponents, sneaking in front and nabbing the pass before it reached its intended mark.
She must have poached half a-dozen passes and her combination with defensive duo Jaimee Power and Jess Moulds caused problems for Western's attack end.
"She adds a lot," Otago coach Deb Tasi-Cordtz said.
"She has a strong one-on-one game and shuts down her opponents. And we needed that. We've got lots of [defensive] options but she played well today."
The win was a much-needed boost for Otago.
The province lost its opening game to Wellington narrowly and suffered another close defeat to Canterbury last weekend.
The team approached yesterday's game as if it was a final.
"We needed a win and we wanted to stop them getting a bonus point, so we'll take that. [Now] we need to win at least one more game ... so the Southland game next week is vital."
Otago is scheduled to play Southland in Invercargill on Sunday but the match will have to be played elsewhere.
Heavy snowfall in Invercargill on Saturday caused part of Stadium Southland's roof to collapse.
Tasi-Cordtz said Netball New Zealand was still working through the different options which included holding the game in Queenstown, Gore or perhaps at Dunedin's Edgar Centre.
Wherever it is played, it is a crucial match for both sides.
Southland has lost all three round-robin games but has managed to pick up two bonus points and remains with a chance of making the top four.
Otago is in fourth place with five points from three games and can ill-afford a loss to Southland.
Wellington continues to surprise with a 56-52 upset win against Auckland-Waitakere in Auckland yesterday.
The Wellingtonians share top spot with Canterbury, also unbeaten after defeating Southland 46-42 at QEII.
Western is yet to pick up a point.
In a free-scoring opening quarter both sides played some attractive netball.
Moulds used her height to grab some vital rebounds and some superb execution in the shooting circle helped the home team take a 19-17 lead into the first break.
Midway through the second period Otago outscored its opponent seven goals to two and stretched its lead to seven goals.
But it was a damaging unanswered seven-goal run at the beginning of the last period which sealed the outcome.
Tasi-Cordtz took the opportunity to rest Selby-Rickit with 7min remaining and give Kirsten Craig a run at goal attack.
National champs
The scores
Otago 64
Te Paea Selby-Rickit 49 from 49, Greir Campbell 10/17, Kirsten Craig 5/7
Western 54
Chantelle Ngaia 34/38, Amber Bellringer 18/22, Alannah Cassidy 2/4
Quarter 19-17, halftime 37-30, third quarter 50-42
