THUNDER BAY -- The talent has always been there.
But for August Ricketts, the past two seasons have been about unlocking it.
She finally found the key this fall.
Ricketts, named the Lakehead Thunderwolves women’s basketball player of the month for November, has been tearing up the court in 2016-17, providing some much-needed offence in the absence of the injured Katelyn Andrea.
In her third season, the Stouffville, Ont. native is averaging 10.7 points a night, more than double the 4.7 points per game she put up last season.
“I’m pretty happy, but I need to work on being more consistent,” Ricketts said. “Whenever I get to that point, I’ll be a lot happier than I am now.”
That’s a pretty tall order for someone averaging 56.7 per cent from the field, fourth in the entire OUA.
But Ricketts pointed to games against Windsor and Western in the middle of November, when she combined to score just seven points, as examples of games when she didn’t contribute the way she thinks she can each night.
“The first couple of games my shooting percentage was pretty high, so I guess that’s why the number is so high. The last couple of games haven’t been the greatest, so I just have to keep that consistency I had for the first couple of games in the season,” Ricketts said.
Coming into the season, after Andrea went down, the LU coaching staff weren’t sure exactly where the bulk of their points were going to come from.
But they had high hopes for Ricketts and fellow pivots Daron Mainville and Gillian Lavoie.
All three have delivered at different times.
Assistant coach Lou Pero is impressed with Ricketts’ development.
“She has a tremendous skill package,” Pero said. “She’s right-handed and uses her left hand most of the time and she’s actually sometimes better than she is with the right.
“Inside she’s got great lift, so she’s really getting a feeling she can score at this level and be an impact at this level. And I think as she turns the corner into January … she’s able to be better because I think she can be one of top players in the OUA.”
The Wolves finished the first half with a 2-5 record and return to the court on Jan. 6 against Ryerson on the road.
