Stephanie Soares (born 17 April 2000) is a Brazilian professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). She played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

The Master's University The Master's University is a private non-denominational Christian university in Santa Clarita, California. History The college was founded in 1927. It was originally named Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary. In 1961, it moved to Newhal ...

and Iowa State. She represented

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

at the

2019 Pan American Games ; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa'' , nations participating = 41 , athletes participating = 6,680 , events = 419 in 38 sports , opening ceremony = July 26 , closing ceremony = August 11 , officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra , to ...

and won a gold medal.

Playing career

College

Soares began her collegiate career at

. During the 2018–19 season in her freshman year, she led the nation in rebounding (470), blocked shots (173), and recorded 29 double-doubles. She set the single-season program records for rebounds, rebounding average, and blocked shots. Following the season she was named the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Player of the Year and GSAC Defensive Player of the Year. During the 2019–20 season, she averaged 20.7 points and 13.6 rebound, and led the nation in rebounds (423), defensive rebounds (326), blocked shots, (151), and double-doubles (24). Following the season she was named the GSAC Player of the Year and GSAC Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. She was also named to the WBCA NAIA All-America team and named the WBCA NAIA Player of the Year. She became the first player in TMU history to be named NAIA Player of the Year. She missed the 2020–21 season after she underwent surgery to repair tears in both her

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

(ACL) and

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint in humans and other primates. Its primary function is to resist outwar ...

(MCL). During the 2021–22 season, she averaged 20.5 points and 12.7 rebounds, and helped lead The Master's University 32–4 record and the NAIA national quarterfinals. Following the season she was named the NAIA Player of the Year. She was also named to the WBCA NAIA All-America team and named the WBCA NAIA Player of the Year for the second time in her career. On 19 April 2022, Soares announced she was transferring to Iowa State. During the 2022–23 season, Soares started all 13 games she played in before suffering a season-ending ACL injury at Oklahoma on 8 January 2023. She recorded eight double-doubles and averaged 15.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.

Professional

On 10 April 2023, Soares was drafted fourth overall by the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference ...

in the 2023 WNBA draft. She was immediately traded to the Dallas Wings in exchange for a 2024 second-round draft pick, and Atlanta's 2025 first-round draft pick. On 6 February 2024, she signed with the Wings. She missed the

2023 WNBA season The 2023 WNBA season is the 27th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Las Vegas Aces are the defending champions. The regular season was expanded to 40 games per team, becoming the most games scheduled in a single WNB ...

after recovering from ACL surgery.

National team career

Soares made her international debut for

at the

. During the tournament she averaged 5.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in five games. She averaged 16 minutes a game and led the team with seven blocked shots and won a gold medal.

Personal life

Soares is the daughter of Rogerio and Susan Soares, who were Christian missionaries. She has four siblings, Tim, Jessica, Tiago and Rebecca. Her father played for The Master's University (TMU) men's basketball team, while her mother was the national

Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...

as a high school senior in 1986, and played college basketball at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Tim, Jessica and Tiago all also played college basketball at TMU.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Stephanie 2000 births Living people Brazilian expatriate basketball people in the United States Brazilian women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2019 Pan American Games Forwards (basketball) Iowa State Cyclones women's basketball players Pan American Games medalists in basketball Sportspeople from São Paulo The Master's Mustangs women's basketball players Washington Mystics draft picks Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games