Helena Sverrisdóttir (born 11 March 1988) is an Icelandic former basketball player. Generally considered the greatest Icelandic female basketball player of all time,[1][2] she was named the Icelandic Women's Basketball Player of the Year 12 times.[3] During her playing career, she won the Icelandic championship five times and the Slovak championship two times.
Helena first played for Haukar's senior team in 2000, at the age of 12.[5][6] After winning Division I in 2002 with Haukar, Helena took the Úrvalsdeild by storm in 2002-2003,[7] averaging 17.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists. She was named the Úrvalsdeild Young Player of the Year and was widely regarded as the top prospect in the country. Despite her performance, Haukar finished last in the league and were relegated back to Division I.[8]
In 2003-2004, at the age of 16, Helena averaged a quadruple-double in the Icelandic Division I with 37.6 points, 13.3 rebounds, 11.6 assists and 10.2 steals.[9] Out of the 16 games she played, she posted a quadruple-double in six of them. Her best scoring output came against Ármann/Þróttur where she scored 86 points.[10][8]
She played college basketball for TCU from 2007 to 2011.[11][12] In October 2024, she was inducted into the schools athletics Hall of Fame.[13]
Helena returned to Haukar in 2016 after 9 seasons away[14] and helped the club achieve the best regular season record in the Úrvalsdeild kvenna. For the season she averaged 24.4 points, 13.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists, and was named the Úrvalsdeild Domestic Player of the Year.[15] Helena missed most of the 2016-2017 season due to being pregnant of her first child.[16][17] She returned to the floor on March 19 in a loss against Stjarnan, five weeks after the birth of her daughter.[18][19][20]
On December 20, 2017, Haukar loaned Helena to Good Angels Kosice until the end of January 2018.[21] On January 21, Helena helped the Good Angels win the Slovak Basketball Cup.[22][23]
On 15 November 2018, Helena signed with Úrvalsdeild kvenna club Valur.[32] On 16 February 2019, she won the Icelandic Cup after Valur defeated Stjarnan in the Cup finals, 74-90. In the game, Helena had 31 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists.[33] On 27 April 2019, she helped Valur win its first ever national championship after beating Keflavík in the Úrvalsdeild finals 3-0.[34] After the season she was named the Úrvalsdeild Domestic Player of the Year for the second straight year and to the Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First Team.[35]
Valur opened the 2019–20 season by defeating Keflavík, 105-81, in the annual Icelandic Super Cup where Helena posted 14 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists.[36] It was Valur's first Super Cup win and the victory made them the holders of all four major national crowns, the others being the national championship, the national cup and the league championship which is awarded for the best regular season record in the Úrvalsdeild.[37]
On 29 May 2020, Helena announced that she was pregnant with her second child.[39]
On 2 June 2021, she won the national championship after Valur beat Haukar 3–0 in the Úrvalsdeild finals and was named the Playoffs MVP.[40] After the season, she was named to the Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First Team.[41]
On 19 June 2021, Helena signed back with her hometown team of Haukar.[42][43] On 18 September 2021, she led Haukar to victory in the Icelandic Cup and was named the Cup Finals MVP after turning in 26 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists[44] in the 94–89 win against Fjölnir in the Cup finals.[45] On 30 September, she scored 32 points in the second leg of the 2021–22 EuroCup Women Qualifiers matches against Clube União Sportiva, leading Haukar to an aggregate win of 160-157 and a seat in the EuroCup regular season.[46] On 19 March 2022, she won the Icelandic Cup again after Haukar defeated Breiðablik in the 2022 Cup Finals.[47]
On 20 September 2023, still battling with injuries, Helena was an unused substitute in Haukar's 78-77 win against Valur in the Icelandic Super Cup.[48] On 19 November 2023, she announced her retirement from playing due to a knee injury.[1]