All statistics correct as of 30 April 2018.1 Sponsored league name, referring to Úrvalsdeild kvenna.
The 2017–18 Úrvalsdeild kvenna was the 61st season of the Úrvalsdeild kvenna, the top tier women's basketball league on Iceland. The season started on October 4, 2017[1] and concluded on April 30, 2018, with Haukar winning their fourth title after beating Valur 3–2 in the Úrvalsdeild finals.[2]Helena Sverrisdóttir was named the Playoffs MVP after averaging 20.2 points, 12.2 rebounds and 10.8 assists in the finals series.[3]
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 Division 1.
On October 8, Njarðvík released Erika Williams.[14]
On October 21, Danielle Victoria Rodriguez notched a triple-double for Stjarnan against Snæfell with 31 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists.[15]
On November 12, former Icelandic national team member and Skallagrímur's forward Fanney Lind Thomas announced her retirement from basketball due to head injuries sustained in a game against Valur on October 11.[16]
On November 22, Kristen McCarthy broke the fifty-point barrier again when she scored 50 points in a losing effort against defending champions Keflavík.[17]
On December 13, Danielle Victoria Rodriguez notched her second triple-double of the season with 46 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against Skallagrímur.[22]
On December 15, Helena Sverrisdóttir was named the best player of the first half of the season and to the All-First team of team of the first half of the season, along with Hallveig Jónsdóttir, Thelma Dís Ágústsdóttir, Danielle Victoria Rodriguez and Berglind Gunnarsdóttir. Hildur Sigurðardóttir of Breiðablik was named the best coach of the first half of the season while Ragna Margrét Brynjarsdóttir was named the best defender and Ísabella Sigurðardóttir the best young player of the first half.[23]
On December 29, top-placed Valur announced they had released Alexandra Petersen and signed Aaliyah Whiteside in her place.[26] Petersen joined Division I club KR on January 4, 2018.[27]
On January 6, Keflavík held Snæfell scoreless in the fourth quarter of its 80-53 victory against them.[30]
On January 8, Haukar released Cherise Daniels and signed former Grindavík player Whitney Frazier.[31]
On January 13, Keflavík announced that Þóranna Kika Hodge-Carr would miss the rest of the season after tearing a cruciate ligament in her knee. She was the second Keflavík player to go down with a torn cruciate ligament, after Emelía Ósk Gunnarsdóttir who suffered the same injury a month earlier.[32]
On January 19, Njarðvík replaced Hallgrím Brynjólfsson as head coach with Ragnar Halldór Ragnarsson. Njarðvík had lost all sixteen games in the league but had reached the Icelandic Basketball Cup finals where it lost to Keflavík.[11]
On January 24, Danielle Victoria Rodriguez notched her third triple-double of the season with 30 points, 19 rebounds and 17 assists.[33][34]
On March 21, Njarðvík ended its 30 game Úrvalsdeild kvenna losing streak by beating Breiðablik, 77-59. It was Njarðvík's first Úrvalsdeild victory since March 1, 2017. They had lost the last four games of the 2016–17 season and first twenty-six games of the 2017–18 season.[37] Due to a rash of injuries in her Breiðablik squad, former international and head coach of Breiðablik, Hildur Sigurðardóttir, donned a uniform during the game for the first time since the end of the 2014–15 season. In six minutes, she had two points and 4 assists.[38]
