Former NC State Great Linda Page Passes Suddenly
10/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 5, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State athletics department is saddened to hear the news of the sudden passing of former Women's Basketball All-American Linda Page.
Page, 48, holds the distinction of being one of only seven players in program history to have her basketball jersey retired.
"It is extremely sad news to hear that a great Wolfpacker like Linda Page has passed away so suddenly," said NC State head coach Kellie Harper. "Our hearts and prayers are with her family.”
Page is one of four Wolfpack women to eclipse the 2,000-point mark, tallying 2,307 for her career to rank second on the NC State scoring charts. A two-time first team All-ACC selection, she was named to the all-tournament team three times, including the tournament MVP in 1983.
"It is a very sad time for the entire ACC and NC State families,” said Nora Lynn Finch, Associate Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and a former Senior Associate Athletic Director and basketball coach at NC State.
“Linda was the first national recruit for the Wolfpack program outside of North Carolina and Virginia. She was one of the best scorers in Women's basketball, and she truly entertained NC State fans. She lived up to her nickname of "Hawkeye"!
“Both as a great Wolfpack Alum and an ACC Legend, we have all lost a family member."
Page averaged 21.1 points and 7.6 rebounds her senior season in leading NC State to the 1985 ACC Championship. She holds the school record for career free throw percentage (85.3), career free throws (407), and most free throws made in a game (17).
She twice scored 42 points in a game, both against Clemson, which ranks second for most points in a contest at State. She ranks in the top-five in seven career categories in the Wolfpack record books.
Page once scored 100 points in a high school basketball game. On Friday, Feb. 13, 1981, the 5-7 guard known as "Hawkeye" bounced the great Wilt Chamberlain right out of Philadelphia's record books when, as a 17-year-old, Page hit the century mark in Dobbins Tech's 131-38 victory over Mastbaum - 10 points more than the legendary Chamberlain scored in 1955.
Newspaper reports say that NC State coaches were in the building that night when she scored 100 points.
