Annika Holopainen

Annika Holopainen
Personal information
Born (1993-08-04) 4 August 1993 (age 31)
NationalityFinnish
Listed height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Career information
College
Playing career2008–present
PositionForward
Number14
Career history
2008–2012Tapiolan Honka
2009–2012Espoo Basket Team
2017–2018TSV 1880 Wasserburg
2018–2019AZS Politechnika Gdańsk
2019–2020Châlons-Reims
2020–2021KR
2021–2022Montbrison Feminines BC
2022–2023Araski AES
2023–presentGisa Lions MBC
Career highlights and awards

Annika Alexandra Holopainen (born 4 August 1993) is a Finnish professional basketball player[1] and a member of the Finnish national team. She played college basketball for the University of Portland and later Old Dominion University. Following her college career, she has played professionally in Europe.[2]

Club career

Holopainen started her career with Tapiolan Honka in the second-tier Naisten I Divisioona. She later played for Espoo Basket Team with whom she won the Finnish Basketball Cup in 2011. The same year she was named the Naisten Korisliiga Sixth Man of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year.[3]

During the 2017–2018 season she played for TSV 1880 Wasserburg in the Damen-Basketball-Bundesliga and the EuroCup. She helped the team win the German Basketball Cup in 2018.[4] The following season, she became the first Finnish woman to play in the Polish Basket Liga Kobiet when she joined AZS Politechnika Gdańsk.[5] For the season she averaged 7.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.[6]

She played for Champagne Châlons-Reims Basket Féminin during the 2019–2020, averaging 8.9 in 18 games.[7]

In August 2020, Holopainen signed with KR of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild kvenna.[8] In her first game, she scored 43 points in a loss against Keflavík.[9] For the season she led the league in scoring with 25.9 points per game while also averaging 9.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

In June 2023, Holopainen signed with Gisa Lions MBC.[10]

Statistics

College statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 Portland 31 297 41.5% 36.1% 69.6% 3.3 0.3 0.3 0.1 9.6
2013–14 Old Dominion
Did not play due to NCAA transfer rules
2014–15 Old Dominion 29 86 30.8% 28.0% 57.1% 1.3 0.3 0.2 0.0 3.0
2015–16 Old Dominion 34 185 42.4% 20.0% 74.2% 2.1 0.5 0.4 0.1 5.4
2016–17 Old Dominion 29 174 48.6% 32.6% 74.2% 3.2 0.6 0.3 0.1 6.0
Career 123 742 41.5% 30.0% 70.5% 2.5 0.4 0.3 0.1 6.0

Source[11]

References

  1. ^ Elise Mäki (14 August 2018). "Ammattilaiskoripalloilija Annika Holopainen kuuli junnuna valmentajalta sanat, jotka muuttivat hänen uransa – "Olin silloin ihan hento tyttö vielä"". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Naisten koripallomaajoukkueen Holopainen jatkaa ulkomaiden kierrostaan Islannissa". Yle (in Finnish). 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Annika Holopainen". basket.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  4. ^ "TSV Wasserburg ist DBBL-Pokalsieger 2018". Wasserburg 24 (in German). 25 March 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  5. ^ Jari Welling (15 October 2018). "Ammattikoripalloilija Annika Holopainen ei pääse rahassa rypemään, mutta Puolassa se ei paljon haittaa – "Täällä on sellainen itäblokin meno"". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  6. ^ Joel Holma (7 June 2019). "Naisten koripallomaajoukkueen avainpelaaja Annika Holopainen siirtyy Ranskan kentille – "Joukkueen konsepti ja pelityyli kuulostivat sopivilta"". Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  7. ^ "Annika Holopainen, Basketball Player - Proballers". proballers.com. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  8. ^ Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (12 August 2020). "Kvennalið KR styrkir sig með tveimur erlendum leikmönnum". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  9. ^ Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (24 September 2020). "Nýliðarnir byrjuðu frábærlega og Blikakonur unnu meistaraefnin". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Halle tabs Annika Holopainen". Eurobasket.com. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  11. ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-06-13.