Maria Stepanova
In-game article clicks load inline without leaving the challenge.
Maria Alexandrovna Stepanova (Russian: Мари́я Алекса́ндровна Степа́нова; born 23 February 1979) is a Russian professional and Olympic basketball player. In the United States, she played for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
At a height of 203 cm, she has been the sixth-tallest player in the league (along with Zheng Haixia and Lindsay Taylor). Margo Dydek, 7 ft 2 in (218 cm), Bernadett Határ, 6 ft 10.5 in (210 cm), Han Xu, 6 ft 11 in (211 cm), Brittney Griner and Liz Cambage, both 6 ft 9 in (206 cm), are taller than her. Heidi Gillingham, also 6 ft 10 in, and Allyssa DeHaan, 6 ft 9 in as well, never played in the WNBA. She wears size 15 (US) / 48 (EU) shoes. Though in the Russian national team, she has been overtaken by Ekaterina Lisina in being the tallest member.
Stepanova was born in the village of Shpakovskoye (now the town of Mikhaylovsk, in Stavropol Krai of the former Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union, and grew up in Tosno, Leningrad Oblast.
Career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
WNBA
Source
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Phoenix | 20 | 0 | 6.5 | .426 | .000 | .636 | 1.9 | .4 | .2 | .6 | .5 | 3.3 |
| 1999 | Phoenix | 32° | 2 | 17.3 | .485 | .500 | .625 | 5.1 | .8 | .4 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 7.8 |
| 2000 | Phoenix | 15 | 1 | 11.3 | .444 | – | .600 | 3.2 | .5 | .3 | .6 | 1.5 | 3.8 |
| 2001 | Phoenix | 32° | 31 | 25.0 | .507 | .000 | .615 | 6.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 10.4 |
| 2005 | Phoenix | 15 | 14 | 27.3 | .472 | – | .650 | 5.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 10.8 |
| Career | 5 years, 1 team | 114 | 48 | 18.2 | .483 | .250 | .626 | 4.7 | .9 | .7 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 7.6 |
Playoffs
Honours and awards
- Honoured Master of Sports of Russia
- Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 1st class (2 August 2009) - for outstanding contribution to the development of physical culture and sports, high achievements in sports at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008
- 3× FIBA Europe Women's Player of the Year (2005, 2006, 2008)