StephanieMavunga

Position: Forward

WNBA Years: 2

Height: 6-3

Weight: 205

Born: February 24, 1995 in Hatare, Zimbabwe.

High School: Brownsburg (Brownsburg, Ind.)

College: Ohio State ‘18

Drafted: By Indiana, second round, 2018 WNBA Draft (14th overall)

• Two-time All-Big Ten (2017, 2018), All-ACC in 2015
• Averaged double-figure scoring and at least 8.2 rebounds all four college seasons
• Indiana Miss Basketball in 2013 at nearby Brownsburg High School

A powerful rebounder from nearby Brownsburg, Ind., Mavunga was the 14th overall selection of the 2018 WNBA Draft…a productive rookie campaign was limited by a midseason ankle injury that cost her six games just as she was easing into a regular role.

She averaged double-figure scoring and over eight rebounds per game in each of four college seasons, playing two years at North Carolina and two at Ohio State…a three-time all-league performer in the Big Ten and ACC, she was the third Indiana Miss Basketball to enter Fever training camp, joining Stephanie White and Shyra Ely…her sister-in-law is former Fever guard Jeanette Pohlen-Mavunga…she teamed with Kelsey Mitchell at Ohio State, and was a USA Basketball teammate with Erica McCall.

WNBA

2019: Mavunga averaged 2.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 8.5 minutes per contest in 24 games with the Fever in her second campaign…matched career bests in points (10), rebounds (6), field goals (5), steals (2) and blocks (2) in a career-high 19 minutes against Minnesota on 8/3.

2018: In 25 games as a rookie, Mavunga averaged 2.2 points and 2.2 rebounds…she scored a season-high 10 points against Dallas, 6/8, and three times pulled down a season-best six rebounds…she had six boards in consecutive games against Atlanta, 6/14 and 6/16, but sustained a left ankle injury while leading the team in rebounding in the June 16 game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse…she averaged 10.3 minutes over her first 10 appearances, but missed the Fever’s next six games and logged double-digit minutes just twice more…she had six points and six rebounds in a road loss at Phoenix, 8/10.

OVERSEAS

2019-20: Second-year forward who was named the EuroCup player of the year by EuroBasket.com. She averaged 18.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in her first pro season overseas, finishing second in the Russian League in rebounding and third in scoring.

2018-19: Mavunga spent her first overseas season starring with Enisey in Russia where she averaged 18.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in the Russian League…she was second in the league in rebounding and third in scoring…in eight EuroCup games, she averaged 24.8 points and 12.4 rebounds…a five-time Russian League player of the week, she twice nabbed EuroCup player of the week honors and was named the EuroCup player of the year by EuroBasket.com…she was named first team All-EuroCup and the EuroCup “forward of the year.”

INTERNATIONAL

2015: Mavunga helped the 2015 USA Basketball Women’s Pan American Games team that captured the silver medal with a 4-1 record at 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada…she averaged 5.0 points and 2.4 rebounds through five games.

2013: She participated in the 2013 USA U19 World Championship Team Trials, 2012 USA U17 World Championship Team Trials and the 2012 USA U18 National Team Trials.

2011: Mavunga was a member of the 2011 USA U16 National Team that claimed the gold medal with a 5-0 record at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Merida, Mexico…the USA won all five contests by an average victory margin of 43 points per game…she averaged 10.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.

COLLEGE

Mavunga played two seasons at North Carolina before transferring to Ohio State, producing all-conference honors twice in the Big Ten, once in the ACC…she became the third player in OSU history to average a double-double…she averaged double-figure scoring and at least 8.2 boards in all four college seasons…385 rebounds as a senior set a single-season OSU record.

2017-18: A semifinalist as the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year, Mavunga started all 35 games for OSU while averaging 16.6 points and 11.0 rebounds per game…her 19 double-doubles ranked second in the Big Ten and ninth nationally…her 385 rebounds were a school record and 63.2 percent shooting ranked eighth nationally…her 88 blocked shots were sixth-best in Buckeyes history…she was a first team All-Big Ten selection and a member of the Big Ten All-Tournament Team…she had 17 points and grabbed a school-record 26 rebounds in a win over No. 10 Stanford, 11/10…against Memphis, 11/23, she scored a career-high 35 points on 15-of-20 shooting and pulled down 16 caroms…she scored 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting and grabbed 16 boards in a win over Maine, 12/3…she had a monster game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament vs. Minnesota, 3/3, scoring 26 points with a tournament-record 21 boards and season-high seven blocks…she notched another double-double in the Big Ten title game vs. Maryland, finishing with 15 points and 12 boards…she posted back-to-back double-doubles in the NCAA Tournament against George Washington and Central Michigan.

2016-17: In 22 games with 20 starts, Mavunga averaged 11.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game…she missed 13 games due to two separate injuries…she posted 11 double-doubles on the season and topped the Big Ten with 2.0 blocks per game…she topped the country by grabbing 20.4 percent of all available rebounds while she was on the floor…she was a second-team All-Big Ten selection, an Academic All-Big Ten honoree, a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and an OSU Scholar-Athlete…Mavunga shot 56.4 percent from the floor…she scored a season-high 23 points with 13 rebounds and a career-high six steals vs. Alabama State, 12/16…she had 13 points and 15 boards against No. 1-ranked UConn, 12/19…out with a foot injury since February, she returned to score four points in seven minutes of action against Notre Dame, 3/24, in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

2015-16: She sat out the season due to NCAA transfer rules.

2014-15: A first-team All-ACC selection, Mavunga was on the Naismith Trophy watch list and won ACC player of the week accolades three times…she started all 35 games for the Tar Heels while helping UNC to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen…she averaged 14.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, tallying 15 double-doubles which was second in the ACC…she was second on the team in scoring and led the club in rebounding…she blocked a team-high 90 shots for an average of 2.6 per game, fourth in the ACC…she was second on the squad with 48 steals…she had 23 points and 16 rebounds in a win at Oregon…she was 13-of-14 from the floor with a season-high 26 points against East Tennessee State…she blocked a career-best eight shots, along with 23 points and 16 boards in an ACC Tournament win over Georgia Tech…she scored 27 points and had 14 boards in an NCAA second round win over Ohio State.

2013-14: Mavunga appeared in 37 games with 34 starts as a freshman, earning honorable mention Freshman All-America honors…she averaged 10.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game…she was the ACC rookie of the week, 11/25, after averaging 17.0 points and 10.0 points in a pair of UNC wins…she shot 10-of-10 from the floor while posting 20 points and 13 rebounds against Coastal Carolina, 11/21…she had 12 double-doubles to finish fifth in the ACC…she ranked fifth in the ACC in rebounds and ninth in field goal percentage (.523)…she set freshman school records at UNC in blocks (90) and rebounds (304)…she scored a season-high 24 points and had 12 rebounds against Illinois, 11/30, and had 20 points and 12 boards in a win over No. 10 South Carolina, 12/18…she had 13 points and nine boards in an upset win over top-seeded South Carolina, 3/30, in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

PERSONAL

Born Tafadzwa Stephanie Mavunga on February 24, 1995 in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe…parents Phillip and Jean Mavunga moved the family to England for a year in late 1997, then to Indianapolis where Phillip, a truck driver, and Jean, a registered nurse, thought would be a good place in America to raise a family…when she was in the third grade and began using her middle name, the family moved to the suburb of Brownsburg where she and brothers Julian (5 years older) and Jordache (2 years younger) all became basketball stars at Brownsburg High School.

Stephanie was Indiana’s 2013 IndyStar Miss Basketball selection, and a member of WBCA and McDonald’s High School All-America teams…ranked No. 4 overall in the nation’s college recruiting class, she was part of a University of North Carolina recruiting cast cited as the best in the country…chosen as the Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year in both 2012 and 2013, she led the Bulldogs to their first section title in 12 years and was a two-time all-state selection…she averaged 23.2 points, 12.7 rebounds and 3.8 blocks as a senior; 21.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 5.4 blocks as a junior; 18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.3 blocks as a sophomore…she left Brownsburg as the holder of single-game (44) and career (1,739) scoring marks, as well as single-game (11), season and career blocked shots…she played two seasons at North Carolina before transferring to Ohio State…she received a bachelor of science degree in sociology and a master’s degree in sports management.

Julian, who married then-Fever star Jeanette Pohlen in August 2016, was also an all-state star at Brownsburg, leading the Bulldogs to a 2008 IHSAA 4A state championship alongside teammate Gordon Hayward…Hayward was the best man in the Pohlen-Mavunga wedding…Julian was an all-conference star at Miami-Ohio before embarking on a pro career that began as an undrafted free agent with the Indiana Pacers in NBA Summer Leagues in 2012 and 2013…his career has flourished overseas with stops in Italy, Ukraine, Israel, Kosovo and the past three seasons in Japan…he also has represented the Zimbabwe National Team…Jordache played a year each at Glen Oaks Community College and Parkland Community College, and has committed to begin his junior season at the University of Indianapolis in 2018-19…he averaged 10.9 points per game for a nationally ranked Parkland team that finished 23-6.

Stephanie loves to cook and her banana pudding has become a favorite of her Fever teammates.

CAREER TRANSACTIONS

(1) Drafted by Indiana in the second round (14th overall) of the 2018 WNBA Draft, 4/12/18.