Formerly | Naisten SM-sarja (Women's Finnish Championship) |
---|---|
Sport | Basketball |
Founded | 1944 |
No. of teams | 10 |
Country | Finland |
Continent | FIBA Europe (Europe) |
Most recent champion(s) |
Catz Lappeenranta (4th title) |
Most titles |
Forssan Alku, Sampo Basket, Tampereen Pyrintö, Nokian Urheilijat (8 titles) |
TV partner(s) | YLE TV2 |
Relegation to | Naisten I Divisioona |
Official website | Korisliiga.fi |
Naisten Korisliiga (English: Women's Basketball League) is the highest tier of women's basketball in Finland. The competition was formerly known as Naisten SM-sarja (English: Women's Finnish Championship) and was renamed to 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.
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).
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.
At least 100 or more games played in the league
Has played in at least 50% of the season's games
All records include both regular season and playoffs. Updated as of season 2013-14