The 2020–21 Úrvalsdeild kvenna is the 64th season of the Úrvalsdeild kvenna, the top tier women's basketball league on

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. The season started on 23 September 2020. On 7 October, 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 ...

postponed the season for two weeks do to another Coronavirus outbreak in Iceland. It concluded on 2 June 2021 with Valur winning their second title after beating

Haukar Knattspyrnufélagið Haukar (, ) is an Icelandic multi-sport club from Hafnarfjörður with divisions in Association football, Football, Haukar Handball, Handball, Basketball, Haukar RC, Rugby union, Karate, Skiing & Chess. Club history The clu ...

3–0 in the Úrvalsdeild finals.

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

Note: Valur was awarded a 20-0 victory against Breiðablik due to the later using a player that was serving a 1 game suspension. Breiðablik originally won the game 71-67.

Playoffs

The playoffs are played between the four first qualified teams with a 1-1-1-1-1 format, playing seeded teams games 1, 3 and 5 at home.

Bracket

Updated to match(es) played on 21 May 2021. Source
KKÍ
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Semifinals

Final

Notable occurrences

*On 1 April, Snæfell's star player

Gunnhildur Gunnarsdóttir Gunnhildur Gunnarsdóttir (born 7 August 1990) is an Icelandic basketball player and a former member of the Iceland women's national basketball team, Icelandic national basketball team. During her career, she won the Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketb ...

announced her retirement from basketball. *On 6 May, it was announced that

player

Sigrún Björg Ólafsdóttir Sigrún Björg Ólafsdóttir (born 19 June 2001) is an Icelandic basketball player for Haukarand the Icelandic national team. She started her career with Haukar in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild kvenna where she won the national championship in 201 ...

would be leaving the team and attend the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

. *On 6 May, it was reported that

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njar ...

starter

Þóranna Kika Hodge-Carr Þóranna Kika Hodge-Carr (born 18 July 1999) is an Icelandic basketball player for Valur and the Icelandic national team. She started her career with Keflavík in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild kvenna where she won the national championship in 20 ...

would attend

Iona College Iona University () is a private Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York, United States. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochelle and a campus of in Bro ...

and play for the Iona Gaels women's basketball team. *On 13 May,

Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir (born 18 November 1994) is an Icelandic former basketball player. She was named the Icelandic Women's Basketball Player of the Year twice, in 2017 and 2018, and was a four time selection to the Úrvalsdeild Domest ...

left KR and signed with

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

rivals Valur. *On 15 May, KR's star

Danielle Rodriguez Danielle Victoria Rodriguez (born December 18, 1993) is an American and Icelandic basketball player and coach. She currently plays for Njarðvík in the Úrvalsdeild kvenna. After graduating from the University of Utah, she went on to play profes ...

announced that she was retiring from playing professionally to fully focus on her coaching career. *On 15 May,

Fjölnir Fjölnir ( ) is a List of legendary kings of Sweden, legendary king in Norse mythology said to have been the son of Freyr (Frey) and his consort Gerðr (Gertha). The name appears in a variety of forms, including Fiolnir, Fjölner, Fjolner, and F ...

announced it had signed Lithuanian national team member Lina Pikčiūtė. *On 15 May,

Embla Kristínardóttir Ingunn Embla Kristínardóttir (born 27 October 1995) is an Icelandic basketball player. She won the Icelandic championship in 2013 with Keflavík. The same year, she debuted for the Icelandic national basketball team. In 2023, she won her seco ...

signed with reigning Icelandic Cup champions Skallagrímur after playing for

the previous season. *On 17 June, Skallagrímur signed

Sanja Orozović Sanja Orozović (; born 11 May 1990) is a Serbian-Hungary, Hungarian professional basketball player who plays for ŽKK Spartak Subotica, Spartak Subotica. In 2018, she won the Women Adriatic Basketball Association championship with ŽKK Budućnos ...

from KR. *On 25 June,

Haiden Palmer Haiden Denise Palmer (born March 28, 1991, in Moreno Valley, California) is an American basketball coach and former player. She played college basketball for Oregon State and Gonzaga before going on to play professionally. She won the Icelandic ...

signed with Snæfell with whom she won the national championship in 2016. *On 9 July,

signed Bríet Sif Hinriksdóttir and Elísabeth Ýr Ægisdóttir from

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town in the Southern Peninsula district of Iceland, not far from Þorbjörn, a tuya (a type of flat-topped, steep-sided volcano). It is one of the few towns with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work ...

. *On 7 August, Valur signed Eydís Eva Þórisdóttir and former national team players

Jóhanna Björk Sveinsdóttir Jóhanna Björk Sveinsdóttir (born 20 October 1989) is an Icelandic former basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic national basketball team. Playing career After starting her career with Hamar, Jóhanna won the Icelandic champ ...

and

Auður Íris Ólafsdóttir Auður Íris Ólafsdóttir (born 29 August 1992) is an Icelandic basketball coach and player who is a former member of the Icelandic national basketball team. In 2019, she was named Úrvalsdeild Defensive Player of the Year. Playing career Cl ...

. *On 19 August,

signed Irish national team member Fiona O'Dwyer. *On 21 August, KR announced that it had signed Finnish national team member Annika Holopainen and American Taryn McCutcheon. *On 3 September, KR announced that former national team players

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 ...

and

Unnur Tara Jónsdóttir Unnur Tara Jónsdóttir (born 18 May 1989) is an Icelandic former basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic women's national basketball team. During her career, she won the Icelandic championship three times and was named the 2010 ...

had retired from basketball. *On 17 September,

announced that it had signed Ariana Moorer to replace injured Areil Hearn. Moorer had previously played in the Úrvalsdeild during the 2016–17 season when she helped

win the national championship and the Icelandic Cup. *On 27 September, all players of

and KR where quarantined and their next games postponed after one of the players from their game on 23 September was diagnosed with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. *On 28 September, the

(KKÍ) ruled that Breiðablik would have to forfeit its unexpected win against defending champions Valur in the first game of the season and be fined 250.000 ISK for using a suspended player in the game. On 11 March 2020, Breiðablik's

Fanney Lind Thomas Fanney Lind Guðmundsdóttir Thomas (born 13 December 1989) is an Icelandic former basketball player. She is a former member of the Icelandic national basketball team. Career Fanney came up through the junior ranks of Hamar, playing her first ...

was suspended one game by KKÍ's disciplinary court for two technical fouls and excessive complaining to a referee. Two days later the rest of the 2019–20 season was canceled due to the

coronavirus pandemic in Iceland The COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Iceland in February 2020. , the to ...

. Per KKÍ rules, Fanney would have to serve her suspension in the first game of the 2020–21 season. *On 5 October, KR fired head coach Francisco Garcia after only two games, both losses. In his place, the team hired Mike Denzel who had previously served as an assistant coach to

Stew Johnson Stewart "Stew" Johnson (born August 19, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. A tall forward/ center from Murray State University, who was born in New York City, Johnson was selected by the New York Knicks in the third ro ...

for the KR men's team, and Guðrún Arna Sigurðardóttir as his assistant coach. Until Denzel's arrival, Jóhannes Árnason was appointed as an interim coach. *On 7 October, the season was postponed for two weeks due to another outbreak of Covid-19 in Iceland. *On 2 January,

announced it had released American Fiona O'Dwyer at her own request and signed Portuguese national team player Sara Djassi in her place. *On 24 February,

Sóllilja Bjarnadóttir Sóllilja Bjarnadóttir (born 13 February 1995) is an Icelandic basketball player who plays for Njarðvík women's basketball, Njarðvík in the Icelandic top-tier Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball), Úrvalsdeild kvenna. Outside of Njarðvík, she h ...

scored 28 points, including 17 points in a row, for Breiðablik in a victory against KR. *On 25 February, Icelandic national team member Sara Rún Hinriksdóttir signed with

, rejoining with her twin sister Bríet Sif. *On 1 March, it was announced that Icelandic national team member

would join

when her season with the

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is part of the University of Tennessee System. History UTC was founde ...

would end. *On 11 March,

Isabella Ósk Sigurðardóttir Isabella Ósk Sigurðardóttir (born 14 August 1997) is an Icelandic basketball player for Njarðvík and the Icelandic national basketball team. Club career Isabella started her senior team career with Breiðablik in the Icelandic second-tier ...

grabbed 28 rebounds while also scoring 21 points in a 93-76 victory against Snæfell. It was the most rebounds by an Icelandic player in the history of the Úrvalsdeild. *On 10 May, it was announced that

Thelma Dís Ágústsdóttir Thelma Dís Ágústsdóttir (born 30 September 1998) is an Icelandic basketball player for Keflavík of the Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball), Úrvalsdeild kvenna. She played college basketball for Ball State Cardinals women's basketball, Ball St ...

would finish the season with

References

External links

Official Icelandic Basketball Federation website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 Iceland Icelandic Lea Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball) seasons Iceland Women