Goodman is a big body to throw out there but is so limited athletically and in her ability to catch/score, let alone even just grab rebounds. Her biggest attribute is to simply absorb fouls and give Steulky a breather.
While OGrady had a solid game today, I actually like 34 - Ediger(?) over both OG and Goodman lately.
Either way... Hawks front court is the weak link and there are so many teams out there with huge, athletic bigs.
O'Grady had a solid game? I'd say she was damn near perfect during the few minutes she got. After Stuelke struggled both offensively and defensively, when OGrady got in the game she immediately blocked/altered a couple of #32's shots, scored 2 left-handed layups on the offensive end, and I believe she was 2/2 from the FT line. At the end of regulation, with every FT vitally important, there's no way Stuelke should have been in the game...and she predictably missed 3 of 4 FTs inside of the last few minutes.
That was just one of Bluder's coaching mistakes, among several over the course of this game. It seems like at least once/year, Bluder gets outcoached, and today's game certainly qualifies. After watching tape, she'll kick herself for not having OGrady in the game at the end.
On the plus side for Bluder, her scheme to play most of the 1st half with a 'box and 1' -- playing Gabby woman-to-woman on #4 their outstanding Guard while the other Hawkeyes played zone -- took her completely out of her game and I don't think she scored a single point in the 1st half. Why Bluder got out of that scheme the last few minutes of the 1st half and didn't play it at all in the 2nd, is anybody's guess...#4 scored 20 pts in the 2nd half alone.
In the last 5 minutes of regulation, when #32 seemed unstoppable when she got the ball in the paint, Bluder made no change to alter Iowa's Defense -- none. Could have shifted to a 1-3-1 zone and fronted her, ANYTHING to keep her from getting the ball and keep them from running the same play successfully over and over again. Horrible coaching by Bluder those last 5 minutes.