"She was a nice person, and I loved her," Louise Page said. "This is a big shock to me. You think somebody's doing fine, but then they lay down and die."
Toni Goodman, Dobbins' first-year athletic director, said she received a call yesterday in school from a woman who identified herself as Linda Page's friend, and was hoping the rumor she'd heard would prove to be unfounded. That woman later called back, Goodman said, and reported she'd confirmed Page's passing through her church.
"But that was as much as we could find out," Goodman said.
In that '81 game, vs. visiting Jules Mastbaum Tech, Page shot 41-for-58 and 18-for-21 for 100 points as Dobbins frolicked, 131-37. Her quarter-by-quarter breakdown was 27-26-27-20, and she added 19 rebounds, five assists and seven steals. Chamberlain had scored 90 for Overbrook in a 1955 game vs. Roxborough.
The news of Page's outburst quickly spread and she wound up rushing to the Spectrum, where she posed for pictures with Julius Erving and was introduced to the crowd on hand for a Sixers-Washington game.
The Sixers lost. The Daily News' back cover featured stories about the two games with this tie-'em-together headline: Sixers Could've Used Page.
Chamberlain, still considered by many the greatest player in NBA history, finished his 'Brook career with 2,206 points. Page tallied 2,383 at Dobbins - her senior-season average was also better than Wilt's, 48.2 to 44.5 - and then starred at North Carolina State, leading the ACC in scoring three straight seasons. Her jersey was retired in 2000.
