2021–22 Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball) explained

Updated:	31 March 2022
Nextseason:	2022–23
Subway deild kvenna^1
Extra Information:	^1 Sponsored league name, referring to Úrvalsdeild kvenna.
T Bg:	00458D
T Color:	white
Champions:	Njarðvík
Runners Up:	Haukar
Semifinalists:	Fjölnir, Valur
Teams:	8
Duration:	6 October 2021 – 1 May 2022
Tv:	Stöð 2 Sport
Finals Mvp N:	USA
Finals Mvp Link:	Úrvalsdeild Women's Playoffs MVP
Award4:	Domestic MVP
Award4 Link:	Úrvalsdeild Women's Domestic Player of the Year
Award4 N:	ISL
Award5:	Foreign MVP
Award5 Link:	Úrvalsdeild Women's Foreign Player of the Year
Award5 N:	USA
Ppg:	28.5
Ppg N:	USA
Rpg:	15.1
Rpg N:	USA
Apg:	6.4
Apg N:	USA
Top Seed:	Fjölnir

The 2021–22 Úrvalsdeild kvenna was the 65th season of the Úrvalsdeild kvenna, the top tier women's basketball league on Iceland. The season started on 6 October 2021 and concluded on 1 May 2022 with Njarðvík after beating Haukar in the Úrvalsdeild finals, 3–2.^[1]

Competition format

The participating teams first play a conventional round-robin schedule with every team playing each opponent twice "home" and twice "away" for a total of 28 games. The top four teams qualify for the championship playoffs whilst the bottom team will be relegated to 1. deild kvenna.^[2]

Teams

Team	City, Region	Arena	Head coach
Breiðablik	Kópavogur	Smárinn	Ívar Ásgrímsson
Grindavík	Grindavík	HS Orku-höllin	Þorleifur Ólafsson
Fjölnir	Grafarvogur	Dalhús	Halldór Karl Þórisson
Haukar	Hafnarfjörður	Schenkerhöllin	Bjarni Magnússon
Keflavík	Keflavík	TM Höllin	Jón Halldór Eðvaldsson
Njarðvík	Njarðvík	Ljónagryfjan	Rúnar Ingi Erlingsson
Skallagrímur	Borgarnes	Fjósið	Nebojsa Knezevic
Valur	Reykjavík	Origo-völlurinn	Ólafur Jónas Sigurðsson

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced with	Date of appointment
		End of contract	23 June 2021	Off-season	Þorleifur Ólafsson	23 June 2021^[3]
	Guðrún Ósk Ámundadóttir^[4]	Resigned	1 July 2021		Goran Miljevic	26 July 2021
	Goran Miljevic^[5]	Resigned	27 October 2021	8th	Nebojša Knezević	29 October 2021^[6]

Notable occurrences

• On 2 June, Snæfell announced that it would withdraw its team from the Úrvalsdeild and register it in the second-tier 1. deild kvenna.^[7]
• On 13 June, it was reported that Keflavík's forward Thelma Dís Ágústsdóttir would return to Ball State to finish her master's degree and her remaining college eligibility.^[8]
• On 14 June, Fjölnir signed Dagný Lísa Davíðsdóttir who spent the previous season with the University of Wyoming and Hamar/Þór Þórlákshöfn. With Wyoming, Dagný averaged 9.0 stig and 5.4 fráköst and helped the team reach the round of 64 of the 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. Following Wyoming's loss against UCLA, she joined Hamar/Þór and averaged 27.2 points and 13.7 rebounds in 6 games, including a 47 points outburst against Ármann in the playoffs.^{[9] [10]}
• On 15 June, the chairman of the Icelandic Basketball Association, Hannes S. Jónsson, confirmed that Njarðvík would take the seat left vacant by Snæfell in the Úrvalsdeild.^[11] KR, which finished last in the Úrvalsdeild during the 2020-21 season, had been offered the seat but declined.^[12]
• On 19 June, Helena Sverrisdóttir left Valur aftur three seasons and signed back with her hometown team of Haukar.^[13]
• On 29 June, Haukar signed a three-year contract with Sólrún Inga Gísladóttir who had spent the last four years with the College of Coastal Georgia.^[14]
• On 1 July, Breiðablik signed former Snæfell starter Anna Soffía Lárusdóttir who averaged 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds the previous season.^[15]
• On 6 July, Haukar signed Haiden Palmer who led the league in assists the previous season while playing for Snæfell.^[16]
• On 11 July, Icelandic national team member Emelía Ósk Gunnarsdóttir confirmed she would be leaving Keflavík and moving to Sweden to continue her education.^[17]
• On 12 July, Icelandic national team member Sóllilja Bjarnadóttir confirmed she would be leaving Breiðablik and moving to Sweden to continue her doctorate education.^[18]
• On 30 July, Keflavík signed Romania national team member Tünde Kilin.^[19]
• On 4 August, Grindavík signed former Arizona State guard Robbi Ryan.^[20]
• On 6 August, Sara Rún Hinriksdóttir left Haukar and signed with CS Phoenix Constanța of the Romanian Liga Națională.^[21]
• On 6 August, Þóra Kristín Jónsdóttir was reported to have signed with Dameligaen club AKS Falcon after playing the previous nine seasons with Haukar.^[22]
• On 21 August, the captain of Keflavík, Erna Hákonardóttir, announced her retirement from basketball after 11 seasons where she won the national championship three times.^[23]
• On 15 November, Breiðablik signed former WNBA draftpick Micaela Kelly to replace Chelsey Shumpert.^[24]
• On 9 December, the board of Skallagrímur announced that they were withdrawing the team from competition. The team had played 11 games, all losses.^[25]
• On 21 December, it was reported that Haiden Denise Palmer had been released by Haukar at her own request after averaging 9.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 7 Úrvalsdeild games.^[26]
• On 26 December, Haukar signed Keira Robinson to fill the roster spot left by Haiden Palmer.^[27]
• On 3 January, Valur signed Finnish forward Heta Äijänen who had started the season with Advisora Mataro Maresme in Spain.^[28]
• On 26 March, Sigrún Sjöfn Ámundadóttir became the Úrvalsdeild all-time leader in rebounds when she broke Hildur Sigurðardóttir's record of 2,882 career rebounds in a victory against Grindavík.^[29]
• On 30 March, Fjölnir clinched the best record in the league and home court advantage throughout the playoffs.^[30]

External links

• Official Icelandic Basketball Federation website

Notes and References

1. News: Þorkell Gunnar Sigurbjörnsson . Njarðvík Íslandsmeistari eftir öruggan sigur á Haukum . 1 May 2022 . . 1 May 2022 . Icelandic.
2. Web site: Reglugerð um körfuknattleiksmót . kki.is . . 22 August 2021 . Icelandic.
3. News: Þorleifur ráðinn þjálfari kvennaliðs Grindavíkur . 23 June 2021 . umfg.is . 23 June 2021 . Icelandic.
4. News: Davíð Eldur . Guðrún Ósk hættir með Skallagrím . 1 July 2021 . Karfan.is . 1 July 2021 . Icelandic.
5. News: Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson . Þjálfarinn farinn frá Skallagrími eftir 55 stiga tap fyrir Njarðvík . 28 October 2021 . . 28 October 2021 . Icelandic.
6. News: Davíð Eldur . Nebojsa tekur við Skallagrím . 29 October 2021 . Karfan.is . 29 October 2021 . Icelandic.
7. News: Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson . Kvennalið Snæfells dregur lið sitt úr Domino's deildinni . 13 June 2021 . . 2 June 2021 . Icelandic.
8. News: Davíð Eldur . Thelma Dís aftur til Bandaríkjanna . 13 June 2021 . Karfan.is . 13 June 2021 . Icelandic.
9. News: Davíð Eldur . Dagný Lísa til Fjölnis . 15 June 2021 . Karfan.is . 14 June 2021 . Icelandic.
10. Web site: Dagný Lísa Davíðsdóttir . kki.is . . 15 June 2021 . Icelandic.
11. News: Gunnar Egill Daníelsson . Njarðvík tekur sæti Snæfells – aldrei fleiri lið í 1. deild . 15 June 2021 . . 15 June 2021 . Icelandic.
12. News: Sindri Sverrisson . KR hafnaði sæti í efstu deild svo Njarðvík fór upp . 15 June 2021 . . 15 June 2021 . Icelandic.
13. News: Helena heim í heiðardalinn . 19 June 2021 . . 19 June 2021 . Icelandic.
14. News: Þriggja stiga skytta komin heim í Hauka . 29 June 2021 . . 29 June 2021 . Icelandic.
15. News: Davíð Eldur . Anna Soffía til Breiðabliks . 1 July 2021 . Karfan.is . 1 July 2021 . Icelandic.
16. News: Haiden Palmer til silfurliðs Hauka . 6 July 2021 . Karfan.is . 6 July 2021 . Icelandic.
17. News: Davíð Eldur . Emelía Ósk yfirgefur Keflavík . 13 July 2021 . Karfan.is . 11 July 2021 . Icelandic.
18. News: Davíð Eldur . Sóllilja yfirgefur Breiðablik . 13 July 2021 . Karfan.is . 12 July 2021 . Icelandic.
19. News: Davíð Eldur . Tunde Kilin til Keflavíkur . 31 July 2021 . Karfan.is . 30 July 2021 . Icelandic.
20. News: Davíð Eldur . Robbi Ryan til Grindavíkur . 26 March 2022 . Karfan.is . 4 August 2021 . Icelandic.
21. News: Davíð Eldur . Sara Rún til Phoenix Constanta . 6 August 2021 . Karfan.is . 6 August 2021 . Icelandic.
22. News: Davíð Eldur . Þóra Kristín til AKS Falcon . 6 August 2021 . Karfan.is . 6 August 2021 . Icelandic.
23. News: Davíð Eldur . Erna leggur skóna á hilluna "Ég geng sátt frá borði" . 22 August 2021 . Karfan.is . 21 August 2021 . Icelandic.
24. News: Breiðablik fær Micaela Kelly í stað Chelsey Shumpert . 16 November 2021 . Karfan.is . 16 November 2021 . Icelandic.
25. News: Helgi Hrafn Ólafsson . Kvennalið Skallagríms dregur sig úr keppni . 9 December 2021 . Karfan.is . 9 December 2021 . Icelandic.
26. News: Davíð Eldur . Haiden yfirgefur Hauka . 22 December 2021 . Karfan.is . 21 December 2021 . Icelandic.
27. News: Hjörtur Leó Guðjónsson . Keira Robinson gengur til liðs við Hauka . 26 December 2021 . . 26 December 2021 . Icelandic.
28. News: Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson . Valskonur búnar að finna nýjan leikmann . 4 January 2022 . . 3 January 2022 . Icelandic.
29. News: Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson . Sigrún orðin sú frákastahæsta í sögunni . 28 March 2022 . . 28 March 2022 . Icelandic.
30. News: Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson . Sjáðu fagnaðarlætin er Fjölnir fékk fyrsta titilinn í hendurnar . 31 March 2022 . . 31 March 2022 . Icelandic.