Maria_Stepanova References

Maria Stepanova
Personal information
Born	23 February 1979 (age 45); Shpakovskoye, Stavropol Krai, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Russian
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	187 lb (85 kg)
Career information
WNBA draft	1998: 1st round, 8th overall pick
	Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Position	Center
Career history
1998–2001, 2005	Phoenix Mercury
2006	KB Stars
Career highlights and awards
	3× FIBA Europe Women's Player of the Year (2005, 2006, 2008); 3× Russian Player of the Year (2005–2007);
Representing Russia
Women's Basketball
Olympic Games

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 fifth-tallest player in the league (along with Liz Cambage, 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 10 in (208 cm), and Brittney Griner, 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.

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)