View source for Maria Stepanova

{{Short description|Russian basketball player (born 1979)}}
{{distinguish|Maria Stepanova (poet)|Mariya Stepanova}}
{{family name hatnote|Alexandrovna|Stepanova|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Maria Stepanova
| image = Stepanova-Maria.jpg
| caption =
| position = [[Center (basketball)|Center]]
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 8
| weight_lb = 187
| nationality = Russian
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1979|2|23}}
| birth_place = [[Mikhaylovsk, Stavropol Krai|Shpakovskoye]], [[Stavropol Krai]], [[Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| high_school =
| college =
| draft_league = WNBA
| draft_year = 1998
| draft_round = 1
| draft_pick = 8
| draft_team = [[Phoenix Mercury]]
| career_start =
| career_end =
| years1 = 1998–2001, 2005
| team1 = [[Phoenix Mercury]]
| years2 = 2006
| team2 = [[KB Stars]]
| highlights =
* [[List of Women's National Basketball Association season blocks leaders|WNBA blocks leader]] ({{WNBA Year|2005}})
*3× [[FIBA Europe Women's Player of the Year]] (2005, 2006, 2008)
*3× [[Russian Gold Basket awards|Russian Player of the Year]] (2005–2007)
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalCountry | {{RUS}} }}
{{MedalSport | Women's [[Basketball]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalBronze| [[2004 Summer Olympics|2004 Athens]]| [[Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics|Team Competition]]}}
{{MedalBronze| [[2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Beijing]]| [[Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women|Team Competition]]}}
}}

'''Maria Alexandrovna Stepanova''' ({{langx|ru|Мари&#769;я Алекса&#769;ндровна Степа&#769;нова}}; born 23 February 1979) is a Russian professional and [[Olympic Games|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&nbsp;cm, she has been the sixth-tallest player in the league (along with [[Zheng Haixia]] and [[Lindsay Taylor]]). [[Margo Dydek]], 7&nbsp;ft 2 in (218&nbsp;cm), [[Bernadett Határ]], 6&nbsp;ft 10.5 in (210&nbsp;cm), [[Han Xu (basketball)|Han Xu]], 6&nbsp;ft 11 in (211&nbsp;cm), [[Brittney Griner]] and [[Liz Cambage]], both 6&nbsp;ft 9 in (206&nbsp;cm), are taller than her. Heidi Gillingham, also 6&nbsp;ft 10 in, and [[Allyssa DeHaan]], 6&nbsp;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, Stavropol Krai|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)

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060221163932/http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/maria_stepanova/index.html WNBA Player Profile]

{{navboxes|list=
{{1998 WNBA draft}}
{{WNBA blocks leaders}}
{{FIBA Europe Women's Player of the Year Award}}
{{Russia Women Basketball Squad 2004 Summer Olympics}}
{{Russia Women Basketball Squad 2008 Summer Olympics}}
{{UMMC Ekaterinburg 2012–13 Euroleague Women champions}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepanova, Maria}}
[[Category:1979 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Centers (basketball)]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic basketball players for Russia]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Russia]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:People from Stavropol Krai]]
[[Category:Phoenix Mercury draft picks]]
[[Category:Phoenix Mercury players]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 1st class]]
[[Category:Russian expatriate basketball people in the United States]]
[[Category:Russian women's basketball players]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Stavropol Krai]]


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