2019–20 Úrvalsdeild Kvenna (basketball)
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The 2019–20 Úrvalsdeild kvenna is the 63rd season of the Úrvalsdeild kvenna, the top tier women's basketball league on
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
. The season started on 2 October 2019. On 13 March 2020 the season was postponed for at least four weeks due to the
coronavirus outbreak Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...
in the country. On 18 March, the rest of the season was canceled.
Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town on the Southern Peninsula (Iceland), Southern Peninsula of Iceland not far from the tuya Þorbjörn (mountain), Þorbjörn. It is one of the few cities with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work in ...
was relegated and
Valur Valur may refer to: People * Birkir Valur Jónsson (born 1998), Icelandic football player * Björn Valur Gíslason (born 1959), Icelandic politician * Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (born 1979), Icelandic handball player * Guðni Valur Guðnason (born ...
was named divisional champions for having the best record at the time of the cancelation but no national champions would be named for the season.


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.


Teams


Managerial changes


Regular season

Notes
1 As the playoffs were canceled, no team won the national championship. The team with the best record in the league receives the title ''Division champions'' (Icelandic: Deildarmeistarar). Stjarnan received the title as it had the best record at the time of cancelation.


Notable occurrences

*On April 12, it was reported that Haukar had signed Lovísa Björt Henningsdóttir for the 2019–20 season; she had played the previous four seasons for Marist College of the
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and N ...
. *On May 13, two-time Icelandic Women's Basketball Player of the Year, Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir, signed a one-year contract with KR. *On May 15, it was reported that Keflavík owed the
Icelandic Basketball Association The Icelandic Basketball Association (''Icelandic:Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ'') is the national governing body of basketball in Iceland and is a member of the continental association FIBA Europe and the global International Basketbal ...
3 million ISK in unpaid transfer and referee fees and would lose their spot in the Úrvalsdeild if the debt would not be paid by May 30. *On May 24, reigning national champions
Valur Valur may refer to: People * Birkir Valur Jónsson (born 1998), Icelandic football player * Björn Valur Gíslason (born 1959), Icelandic politician * Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (born 1979), Icelandic handball player * Guðni Valur Guðnason (born ...
signed Sylvía Rún Hálfdánardóttir who the previous season played with
Þór Akureyri Íþróttafélagið Þór, commonly known as Þór Akureyri, simply Þór or Thór, is a multi-sport club in Akureyri, Iceland. It features departments in Basketball, football, Handball and Taekwondo. Its main rivals is another sport club from A ...
in the 1. deild kvenna where she was named to the Domestic All-First team after averaging 21.3 points, 12.7 rebounds and 5.1 assist per game. *On June 7, Stjarnan withdrew from the Úrvalsdeild and registered for the second-tier 1. deild kvenna. *On June 18, it was reported that Breiðablik would take Stjarnan's place in the league. *On June 20, reigning Úrvalsdeild Foreign Player of the Year and two-time Úrvalsdeild assist leader,
Danielle Rodriguez Danielle Victoria Rodriguez (born December 18, 1993) is an American basketball player and coach. After graduating from the University of Utah, she went on to play professionally in the Úrvalsdeild kvenna where she was named the Foreign Player o ...
, signed with KR after playing the last three seasons with Stjarnan. *On June 26, Snæfell signed Finnish national team player Veera Pirttinen. *On July 1, Snæfell signed Chandler Smith from Gonzaga University to replace Kristen McCarthy who was still recovering from a
concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...
she received in March 2019. *On July 8,
Valur Valur may refer to: People * Birkir Valur Jónsson (born 1998), Icelandic football player * Björn Valur Gíslason (born 1959), Icelandic politician * Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (born 1979), Icelandic handball player * Guðni Valur Guðnason (born ...
signed former KR point guard
Kiana Johnson Kiana Johnson (born August 23, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Valur women's basketball, Valur of the Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball), Úrvalsdeild kvenna. She played college basketball for Michigan State Spartans women's ...
. *On July 9,
Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town on the Southern Peninsula (Iceland), Southern Peninsula of Iceland not far from the tuya Þorbjörn (mountain), Þorbjörn. It is one of the few cities with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work in ...
signed Icelandic national team player Bríet Sif Hinriksdóttir. Bríet played the previous season with Stjarnan where she averaged 13.4 points 4.3 rebounds per game and was named to the Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First Team. *On August 23, it was reported that KR had signed
Sanja Orozović Sanja Orozović ( sr, Сања Орозовић; born 11 May 1990) is Serbian- Hungarian professional basketball player who plays for Breiðablik of the Icelandic top-tier Úrvalsdeild kvenna. In 2018, she won the Women Adriatic Basketball Asso ...
who the previous season had averaged 20.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists for Breiðablik. *On August 30, former Icelandic national team and Keflavík's player,
Bryndís Guðmundsdóttir Bryndís Guðmundsdóttir (born 22 July 1988) is an Icelandic former basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic women's national basketball team. Over her 15 year career, she won the Icelandic championship six times and the Iceland ...
, announced her retirement from basketball. *On 8 September 2019,
Benedikt Guðmundsson Benedikt Rúnar Guðmundsson (born 19 August 1972) is an Icelandic professional basketball coach for Úrvalsdeild karla club Njarðvík and the Icelandic women's national basketball team. He has been named Úrvalsdeild karla Coach of the Year ...
, the head coach of KR, confirmed that
Margrét Kara Sturludóttir Margrét Kara Sturludóttir (born 2 September 1989) is an Icelandic former basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic national basketball team. She won the Icelandic championship in 2008 and 2010 and was named the Úrvalsdeild Dome ...
was training with the club with the possibility signing with the team. She last played for Stjarnan during the 2015–2016 season when she averaged 10.9 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. *On September 9, Skallagrímur announced the signing of Danish national team member Emilie Hesseldal. She played previously for
Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, commonly known as Vitória de Guimarães, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of football in Portugal. Vitória de Guimarães have finished thir ...
and led the Portuguese
Liga Feminina de Basquetebol The Liga Feminina de Basquetebol (LFB) is the premier women's basketball league in Portugal. Founded in 1955, it has been carried out every year since 1959. Currently the LFB is granted two spots in the FIBA Eurocup.KR and
Valur Valur may refer to: People * Birkir Valur Jónsson (born 1998), Icelandic football player * Björn Valur Gíslason (born 1959), Icelandic politician * Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (born 1979), Icelandic handball player * Guðni Valur Guðnason (born ...
, Unnur Tara Jónsdóttir, who is a practicing medical doctor outside of basketball, was involved in a controversy with referee Ísak Ernir Kristinsson after she requested permission to enter the court during a stoppage to attend to a teammate who had been suffered a serious leg injury after a hard landing moments before. Ísak denied her the permission and gave her a
technical foul In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...
after she indicated that she would then ask one of the other referees at the game for permission instead. After the incident caused an uproar with fans, the
Icelandic Basketball Association The Icelandic Basketball Association (''Icelandic:Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ'') is the national governing body of basketball in Iceland and is a member of the continental association FIBA Europe and the global International Basketbal ...
Referee Committee issued a statement where it stated that Ísak admitted that it had been a mistake on his behalf to deny Unnur permission to attend to her injured teammate and that the Committee agreed with that assessment. *On January 10, Snæfell's forward
Berglind Gunnarsdóttir Berglind Lára Gunnarsdóttir (born 17 February 1993) is an Icelandic basketball coach and former player who played 26 games for the Icelandic national basketball team. She spent her entire playing career with Snæfell where she won three stra ...
was involved in a serious accident after a bus she was traveling in, along with more than 40 college students, slid off the road in icy conditions and landed upside down. In the accident, she suffered serious neck and spinal injuries, leaving her partially paralyzed.


References


External links


Official Icelandic Basketball Federation website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 Iceland Icelandic Lea Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball) seasons