| |
The only proof you need that Page really loves rebounding is that she leads the nation.
(AP)
| Murriel Page,
Florida
Class: Senior
Position:
F/C
Height:
6'2"
DOB: Sept. 18,
1975
Hometown: Louin,
Miss.
High
School: Bay
Springs
Vital
Stats: 19.2 points per game, 12.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 56.8%
field
goals
by Dana
Gelin
Among Murriel Page's favorite things are actor Wesley
Snipes, her mother's cooked cabbage and, luckily for her
team, rebounding. "A lot of people don't like to
rebound, they prefer to score," says Page. "With
me, it's the opposite. It's all about me
trying to be
different."
Page has differentiated herself even among other rebounders
with her nation- leading 13.0 per game average. She led the
Southeastern Conference in that category for the second
straight year and is a two-time All-SEC selection. She also
averaged 19.3
points per game and has 64 career double-doubles to her credit.
As Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said of Page before the Lady
Vols played Florida in January, "Her scoring and
rebounding really get my
attention."
Lately, Page has drawn all sorts of attention. Fans
besieged her for autographs when she attended the ABL
All-Star Game in Orlando last January. The second-team
All-America is expected to be among the top draft picks in
either that league or the WNBA,
and Florida coach Carol Ross expects her to be popular
wherever she lands. "If you appreciate hard work with
talent thrown in," Ross says, "you'll love
Murriel Page."
With a total of 378 rebounds this season, Page has grabbed
more than one for every person in her hometown of Louin,
Miss. (pop. 300). Growing up there, Page's quickness earned
her the nickname Speedy, which is tattooed onto her right
arm. Her leaping
ability earned her state titles in the long jump and high
jump, and she also led her Bay Springs High team to two
basketball
crowns.
She made the starting lineup in half the games her freshman
year at Florida and has been a permanent fixture ever
since. In 1996-97, she and 6'1" DeLisha Milton were
known as the Twin Towers. But when Milton went on to play
for the Portland Power as the
second pick in the ABL draft, Page was called upon to step
up. Before this season started, Ross said Page would be her
team's focal point, and predicted she'd be opponents'
focus, too. "That was true to some extent
before," Ross said, "but then she had
her sidekick DeLisha with her."
Even without Milton around, Page has excelled. During the
summer of 1997, she led the U.S. to a silver medal at the
Jones Cup tournament in Taiwan, scoring 14.7 points per
game. Back on campus, she scored the Lady Gators' first 16
points in a November
win over Texas and finished that game with 28 points and 20
rebounds. "She's done whatever we've asked her to
do," Ross says. "And we've basically asking her
to do
everything."
Other Spotlights
March 12: Brian Earl, Princeton
March 11: Tyrone Weeks, Massachusetts
March 10: Brett Robisch, Oklahoma St.
March 9: Larry Hughes, Saint Louis
|