2022–23 Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball) explained

Updated:	29 April 2023
Subway deild kvenna^1
Extra Information:	^1 Sponsored league name, referring to Úrvalsdeild kvenna.
T Bg:	00458D
T Color:	white
Champions:	Valur
Runners Up:	Keflavík
Semifinalists:	Haukar, Njarðvík
Teams:	8
Duration:	20 September 2022 – 28 April 2023
Tv:	Stöð 2 Sport
Playoffs Mvp N:	USA
Playoffs Mvp Link:	Úrvalsdeild Women's Playoffs MVP
Award4:	Domestic MVP
Award4 Link:	Úrvalsdeild Women's Domestic Player of the Year
Award5:	Foreign MVP
Award5 Link:	Úrvalsdeild Women's Foreign Player of the Year
Ppg:	22.1
Ppg N:	USA
Rpg:	12.7
Rpg N:	USA
Apg:	7.9
Apg N:	USA
League Champs:	Keflavík
League Champ Name:	League champions

The 2022–23 Úrvalsdeild kvenna was the 66th season of the Úrvalsdeild kvenna, the top tier women's basketball league on Iceland. The season started on 20 September 2022 and concluded on 28 April 2023 with Valur winning the national championship after beating Keflavík in the Úrvalsdeild finals, 3–1.^[1] Kiana Johnson of Valur was named the Finals MVP.^[2]

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.^[3]

Teams

Team	City, Region	Arena	Head coach
Breiðablik	Kópavogur	Smárinn	Jeremy Herbert Smith
Grindavík	Grindavík	HS Orku-höllin	Þorleifur Ólafsson
Fjölnir	Grafarvogur	Dalhús	Kristjana Eir Jónsdóttir
Haukar	Hafnarfjörður	Schenkerhöllin	Bjarni Magnússon
ÍR	Reykjavík	Hertz-Hellirinn	Sigurbjörg Rós Sigurðardóttir
Keflavík	Keflavík	TM Höllin	Hörður Axel Vilhjálmsson
Njarðvík	Njarðvík	Ljónagryfjan	Rúnar Ingi Erlingsson
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
	Halldór Karl Þórisson	End of contract	22 April 2022^[4]	Off-season		30 May 2022^[5]
		End of contract	15 May 2022			15 May 2022^[6]
		End of contract	30 May 2022		Ari Gunnarsson	12 June 2022^[7]
		End of contract	29 June 2022		Yngvi Gunnlaugsson	29 June 2022^[8]
	Ari Gunnarsson	Resigned^[9]	25 October 2022	8th	Sigurbjörg Rós Sigurðardóttir	25 October 2022^[10]
	Yngvi Gunnlaugsson	Resigned^[11]	21 November 2022	7th	Jeremy Herbert Smith	21 November 2022^[12]

Notable occurrences

• On 4 April, Grindavík signed two-time Úrvalsdeild assist leader and the 2018 Foreign Player of the Year, guard Danielle Rodriguez.^[13]
• On 30 May, Birna Valgerður Benónýsdóttir signed with Keflavík after spending the previous three seasons playing college basketball for Arizona and Binghamton.^[14]
• On 7 June, Elín Sóley Hrafnkelsdóttir signed with Valur after playing the previous four seasons with the University of Tulsa.^[15]
• On 7 June, Bríet Sif Hinriksdóttir signed with Njarðvík after spending the previous two seasons with Haukar.^[16]
• On 5 July, Njarðvík signed Portuguese national team member Raquel Laneiro.^[17]
• On 5 July, Sanja Orozović signed with Breiðablik after playing the previous season with Fjölnir. She previously played for Breiðablik during the 2018–19 season.^[18]
• On 26 July, Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir left Valur and signed with BC Namur-Capitale of the Belgian Women's Basketball League.^[19]
• On 31 October, Isabella Ósk Sigurðardóttir left Breiðablik after appearing in 7 games, where she averaged 12.3 points and 13.3 rebounds, and signed with reigning national champions Njarðvík.^[20]
• On 15 November, Maja Michalska signed with Fjölnir after having been without a team since the folding of Skallagrímur in December 2021.^[21]
• On 21 November, Embla Kristínardóttir signed with Valur.^[22]
• On 4 December, Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir returned to Iceland after starting the season with BC Namur-Capitale in Belgium and signed back with Valur.^[23]
• On 14 December, Tinna Guðrún Alexandersdóttir of Haukar became the third Icelandic player to have back-to-back 30 points games in the Úrvalsdeild.^[24]
• On 2 January, Keflavík announced that Emelía Ósk Gunnarsdóttir was returning to the team after spending the previous months pursuing an education in Sweden.^[25]
• On 13 January, Fjölnir signed former Úrvalsdeild Foreign Player of the Year, Brittanny Dinkins, to replace Taylor Dominique Jones.^[26]
• On 25 January, it was reported that Sigrún Sjöfn Ámundadóttir had resigned as player and assistant coach at Fjölnir, following the team's loss to winless ÍR, citing different vision of the team tactics and play with head coach Kristjana Eir Jónsdóttir.^[27] Two days later, she signed with Haukar.^[28]
• On 8 March, Sigrún Sjöfn Ámundadóttir became the Úrvalsdeild kvenna all-time leader in games played, breaking Birna Valgarðsdóttir's record of 375 games.^[29]
• On 15 April, it was announced that Fjölnir's head coach Kristjana Eir Jónsdóttir would not return for the 2023–24 season.^[30]

External links

• Official Icelandic Basketball Federation website

Notes and References

1. News: Þorkell Gunnar Sigurbjörnsson . Valskonur eru Íslandsmeistarar í körfubolta . 29 April 2023 . . 28 April 2023 . Icelandic.
2. News: Árni Jóhannsson . Kiana: Það trúði engin að við myndum vinna mótið . 29 April 2023 . . 28 April 2023 . Icelandic.
3. Web site: Reglugerð um körfuknattleiksmót . kki.is . . 22 August 2021 . Icelandic.
4. News: Davíð Eldur . Halldór Karl yfirgefur deildarmeistara Fjölnis – Tekur við Hamri í Hveragerði . 7 June 2022 . Karfan.is . 22 April 2022 . Icelandic.
5. News: Davíð Eldur . Kristjana tekur við Fjölni . 7 June 2022 . Karfan.is . 30 May 2022 . Icelandic.
6. News: Hörður Axel tekur við kvennaliði Keflavíkur – Mun halda áfram með karlaliðinu . 7 June 2022 . Karfan.is . 15 May 2022 . Icelandic.
7. News: Davíð Eldur . Ari tekur við ÍR . 12 June 2022 . Karfan.is . 12 June 2022 . Icelandic.
8. News: Yngvi tekur við Breiðablik . 29 June 2022 . Karfan.is . 29 June 2022 . Icelandic.
9. News: Hættur með ÍR . 25 October 2022 . . 25 October 2022 . Icelandic.
10. News: Sigurbjörg eftir hörkuleik í Dalhúsum “Sýndu loksins hvað þær geta” . 10 November 2022 . Karfan.is . 9 November 2022 . Icelandic.
11. News: Sindri Sverrisson . Forsendubrestur frá því að ég var ráðinn . 26 November 2022 . . 24 November 2022 . Icelandic.
12. News: Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson . Yngvi mun ekki klára tímabilið í Kópavogi . 21 November 2022 . . 21 November 2022 . Icelandic.
13. News: Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson . Danielle Rodriguez semur við Grindavík . 4 April 2022 . . 4 April 2022 . Icelandic.
14. News: Davíð Eldur . Birna Valgerður aftur heim til Keflavíkur “Mjög spennt að vera komin aftur heim til að spila” . 7 June 2022 . Karfan.is . 30 May 2022 . Icelandic.
15. News: Elín komin aftur á Hlíðarenda . 7 June 2022 . . 7 June 2022 . Icelandic.
16. News: Hjörtur Leó Guðjónsson . Bríet Sif gengur í raðir Íslandsmeistaranna . 8 June 2022 . . 7 June 2022 . Icelandic.
17. News: Hjörtur Leó Guðjónsson . Íslandsmeistararnir fá portúgalska landsliðskonu . 5 July 2022 . . 4 July 2022 . Icelandic.
18. News: Sanja aftur til Breiðabliks . 6 July 2022 . . 5 July 2022 . Icelandic.
19. News: Hjörtur Leó Guðjónsson . Hildur Björg semur við Namur í Belgíu . 26 July 2022 . . 26 July 2022 . Icelandic.
20. News: Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson . Isabella Ósk til liðs við Íslandsmeistarana . 1 November 2022 . . 31 October 2022 . Icelandic.
21. News: Michalska til Fjölnis . 4 December 2022 . . 18 November 2022 . Icelandic.
22. News: Embla til Vals . 21 November 2022 . Karfan.is . 21 November 2022 . Icelandic.
23. News: Landsliðsfyrirliðinn semur við Val . 4 December 2022 . Karfan.is . 4 December 2022 . Icelandic.
24. News: Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson . Komst í hóp með Helenu og Birnu: „Hún er orðin uppáhalds leikmaðurinn minn“ . 16 December 2022 . . 16 December 2022 . Icelandic.
25. News: Valur Páll Eiríksson . Toppliðinu berst mikill liðsstyrkur . 2 January 2023 . . 2 January 2023 . Icelandic.
26. News: Brittany Dinkins í Grafavoginn . 14 January 2023 . Karfan.is . 14 January 2023 . Icelandic.
27. News: Sindri Sverrisson . Sigrún segir upp hjá Fjölni: „Við Kristjana náðum ekki takti saman“ . 25 January 2023 . . 25 January 2023 . Icelandic.
28. News: Sigrún Sjöfn til Hauka . 27 January 2023 . Karfan.is . 27 January 2023 . Icelandic.
29. News: Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson . Allt um leikjamet Sigrúnar: „Geggjað að vera með henni í liði“ . 10 March 2023 . . 10 March 2023 . Icelandic.
30. News: Kristjana yfirgefur Fjölni . 16 April 2023 . Karfan.is . 15 April 2023 . Icelandic.