\u201cPro basketball in Portland was really a life dream,\u201d Steding said. \u201cSo the fruition of that with Portland Power was pretty incredible.\u201d <\/p>\n
When the Portland Fire<\/a> return to the WNBA in 2026<\/a>, Steding said a new generation of kids in Oregon will likely be inspired to chase a basketball future. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a huge gain for young women that find players to look up to and model themselves after,\u201d said Steding, currently an assistant coach at Stanford. <\/p>\n Steding is an alumnus of Lake Oswego High School, scoring 1,405 points for the Lakers in the early \u201880s. She was the Lakers\u2019 all-time leading scorer when she graduated (her total has since been eclipsed by Kelsey Lavender (1,517 from 2001-2004). <\/p>\n Steding led Stanford to the NCAA Championship in 1990 and was named to the All Pac-10 team three times. She was also a member of Team USA, winning the 1996 Olympic gold medal in Atlanta. <\/p>\n After the Olympics, Steding started her American professional career in 1996 with the Portland Power. She was a part of the team for its entire run from 1996 through 1998. <\/p>\n \u201cI was always so proud to be from Oregon. So proud to be from Portland and the area and having all those connections and being able to help start basketball,\u201d Steding said. <\/p>\n Steding said the thing that made her time as professional basketball player in Portland extra special was how the community embraced the Power. <\/p>\n \u201cWe had the best fans, I promise you,\u201d she said. \u201cWe had the best fans in the whole country. Very loyal, super supportive, engaged in the game. They were knowledgeable, but they were always on our side.\u201d <\/p>\n As a local, Steding was on the team\u2019s rolodex of players to send out to community events regularly, especially speaking in Portland schools. Steding said those interactions were what made the team so beloved in the community.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were always doing stuff in the community,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was very much not a hands-off thing. So it was really wonderful. It was one of the highlights of my life.\u201d <\/p>\n Despite a rocky opening in 1996, going 14-26 and missing the playoffs, the Portland Power had the second highest attendance in the ABL. Steding said it helped that Ducks and Beavers games require a commute down Interstate-5 to attend, coupled with the city\u2019s love of women\u2019s sports. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was a time where we could kind of own Portland women\u2019s basketball and thusly in women\u2019s sports at the time,\u201d Steding said. \u201cThe Portland community is hungry for professional women\u2019s sports. So the more teams and the more opportunities you have to see women in those kinds of positions, the better it is.\u201d<\/p>\n As an Oregonian herself, Steding knows how having access to women\u2019s basketball can help elevate the game at the youth level. <\/p>\n![\"Katy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ASMELEL3LVEPXHRXK3AVEESOQU.jpg\")
Power forward Katy Steding celebrates a season-opening victory over the Seattle Reign in 1997.THE OREGONIAN<\/p>\n