Ásta Júlía Grímsdóttir


Ásta Júlía Grímsdóttir is an Icelandic basketball player for Houston Baptist University. In 2019, she won the Icelandic championship and the Icelandic Cup as a member of Valur.

Playing career

KR

Ásta came up through the junior programs of KR and played two season for the club in the second-tier 1. deild kvenna. In 2017 she was named the 1. deild kvenna Young Player of the Year after averaging 9.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.

Valur

After the 2016–2017 season, Ásta signed with Valur of the top-tier Úrvalsdeild kvenna. She helped the team to the Úrvalsdeild finals in 2018 where it lost to Haukar, 3–2.
She had a breakout season in 2018–2019, averaging 8.8 points and 7.3 rebounds, and helping Valur to the best record in the league. On 16 February 2019, she won the Icelandic Cup after Valur defeated Stjarnan in the Cup finals, 74–90. On 27 April, Ásta helped Valur win the national championship for the first time in the team's history.

Houston Baptist Huskies

In March 2019, Ásta agreed to join the Houston Baptist Huskies women's basketball team.

National team career

Ásta played 17 games for the Icelandic national U-16 team from 2016 to 2017. In June 2016, she was named to the All-First team during the Nordic Championships. In 2017, she averaged 11.3 points and 14.6 rebounds for Iceland during the U16 Women's European Championship Division B. In 2018, she appeared in 13 games for the Icelandic national U-18 team.

Personal life

Ásta is the daughter of Icelandic parliament member Helga Vala Helgadóttir and Grímur Atlason, a politician and former manager of the Iceland Airwaves music festival.