Naisten Korisliiga

Naisten Korisliiga

Formerly	Koripallon naisten SM-sarja, 1944-2013
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1944
First season	1944-45
No. of teams	10
Country	Finland
Most recent champion(s)	Peli-Karhut (5nd title)
Most titles	Forssan Alku, Sampo Basket, Tampereen Pyrintö, Nokian Urheilijat (8 titles)
TV partner(s)	YLE TV2
Relegation to	Naisten I Divisioona
Domestic cup(s)	Finnish Championship
Official website	Korisliiga.fi

Naisten Korisliiga (Women's Basketball League) is the highest tier of women's basketball in Finland. The competition was formerly known as Koripallon naisten SM-sarja (Women's Basketball Finnish Championship) and was renamed Naisten Korisliiga for the 2013-14 season.

Women's Finnish Championship was first introduced in 1944. The first championship was won by Helsingin Tarmo. In the 1940s, the league had six teams and the title was awarded after the regular season. In 1953 the number of teams was raised to ten. Postseason playoffs were first played in the 1973-74 season, with Nokian Urheilijat emerging victorious after defeating first Tapiolan Honka (2-1) in the Semifinals and then Työväen Mailapojat (2-1) in the Finals.^[1]

For the 2014-15 season, the league has 10 teams and each team plays each other three times in the regular season, resulting in 27 games per team. The top 8 teams continue to postseason playoffs which are played in Best-of-five format. The team placed last after the regular season is relegated to Naisten I Divisioona (English: Women's First Division).^[2]

Lea Hakala could be seen as the most influential player so far in the history of Naisten Korisliiga. Hakala played 25 seasons in the league and currently leads the record for career points. She has won the championship title for record-breaking 15 times and she has also been awarded the Player of the Year Award for 4 times.^[3]

Teams competing in the 2019–20 Naisten Korisliiga season:

• Catz Lappeenranta, Lappeenranta
• Espoo Basket Team (EBT), Espoo
• Forssan Alku (FoA), Forssa
• HBA-Märsky, Helsinki
• Hyvinkään Ponteva (HyPo), Hyvinkää
• Kouvottaret, Kouvola
• Peli-Karhut (PeKa), Kotka
• Tapiolan Honka, Espoo
• Torpan Pojat (ToPo), Helsinki
• Vimpelin Veto (ViVe), Vimpeli

At least 100 or more games played in the league

• Most points: 11563
  • Lea Hakala
• Highest points per game average: 19.23
  • Heli Roukanoja
• Most assists: 1179
  • Kenya Robinson
• Highest assists per game average: 3.26
  • Reetta Piipari
• Most rebounds: 6578
  • Kenya Robinson
• Highest rebounds per game average: 12.46
  • Kenya Robinson
• Highest efficiency: 12294
  • Kenya Robinson
• Highest efficiency per game average: 31.15
  • Anna Hollos

Has played in at least 50% of the season's games

• Most points: 911
  • Melissa Jeltema (Tapiolan Honka), 2012–13
• Highest points per game average: 26.47
  • Medina Turner (Äänekosken Huima), 1996–97
• Most assists: 172
  • Reetta Piipari (Peli-Karhut), 2013–14
• Highest assists per game average: 6.15
  • Nikki Speed, (HoNsU), 2013–14
• Most rebounds: 575
  • Shauna Tubbs (Äänekosken Huima), 1997–98
• Highest rebounds per game average: 17.14
  • Sarah Zawodny (Forssan Alku), 2002–03
• Highest efficiency: 1290
  • Keisha Johnson (Tampereen Pyrintö), 1994–95
• Highest efficiency per game average: 36.95
  • Jennie Hall (Nokian Urheilijat), 1983–84

• Most points: 53
  • Nina Pajanti-Raudus (Forssan Alku), vs. Peli-Karhut (121-82), 10-21-1995
• Most assists: 16
  • Erja Laaksonen (HNMKY), vs. Tapiolan Honka, (83-73), 10-24-1999
• Most rebounds: 32
  • Oberon Pitterson (Tampereen Pyrintö), vs. Äänekosken Huima (78-58), 10-12-1996
• Highest efficiency: 67
  • Oberon Pitterson (Tampereen Pyrintö), vs. Äänekosken Huima (78-58), 10-12-1996

All records include both regular season and playoffs. Updated as of season 2013-14 ^[4]

• Official website