Career: Volna St. Petersburg (Russia-Superleague, 1994-95), Force Majeure St. Petersburg (Russia-Superleague, 1995-96), CSKA Moscow (Russia-Superleague, 1996-99), Gambrinus Brno (Czech Rep.-1Liga, 1999-2002), MiZo Pecs (Hungary-A Division, 2002), CSKA Samara (Russia-Superleague, 2003-07)
In March, a legendary center in the making Maria Stepanova lifted her second consecutive FIBA Europe Women’s Player of the Year award at the EuroLeague Women All-Star Game. She was invited despite having an average season or, at least average by the standards of the best player on the continent. Completely exhausted after two years of playing basketball more or less non-stop nobody but Stepanova knows how hard it was for her to wait for the finish line of this endless season.
During the 2006-07 campaign Stepanova was run down and her fatigue affected CSKA results as Igor Grudin’s team was dethroned in Russia and lost in the EuroLeague, being slipped up both times by Spartak Moscow Region. After the end of the season Grudin, who coaches both CSKA and the National Team, advised her to take a break till late August so she could join her teammates rested and fit on the eve of EuroBasket Women 2007.
Stepanova definitely deserves the break. A paragon of consistency, Maria is a legit double-double threat no matter who is trying to stop her. The 28-year-old is a prolific shot-blocker, scorer and rebounder who controls the paint with authority. Stepanova has been instrumental in all the recent success of Russian basketball, bringing home various titles including gold at EuroBasket 2003, silver at EuroBasket 2005, bronze at the 2004 Olympics, silver at the 2006 World Championship and the 2005 Eurolegue Women title as a member of CSKA Samara.
In March she shared her opinion on the Russians’ chances at 2007 Eurobasket with FIBA Europe official website visitors saying, "I believe we remain one of the leading teams in Europe. We are among the favorites and we will be there challenging for the gold”. These are the words you would like to hear from your best player, and when the name of you best player is Maria Stepanova, it is a serious reason to be optimistic.
