“I think everybody goes into the season with kind of a game plan, right?” Bluder said. “You go into a game with a game plan, and you think this is what’s going to be best. But you’ve got to make adjustments along the way. If it’s going astride, if it’s not going as well as you think, you’ve got to change things.”
Rather than sticking with the same lineup and expecting different results, Bluder adapted to her team’s strengths. She inserted now-injured guard Molly Davis into the starting lineup and shifted sophomore forward Hannah Stuelke to the five. Iowa decided to lean into its strength as an up-tempo offense. The change led to the desired result, but it wasn’t an easy transition for the 6-foot-2 Stuelke.
“Hannah had to adjust from something she wanted to be, which is the power forward, to something we needed her to be, and that was the center,” Bluder said. “There were a few growing pains in that, but she’s obviously adapted very, very well to that and now is embracing it.”
The Hawkeyes lead the nation in scoring (91.4 points per game) and 3-pointers per game (11) and have parlayed their line change to their second straight national championship appearance, this time against undefeated South Carolina — the same undefeated team the Hawkeyes beat in last season’s Final Four. Stuelke, who ranks second at Iowa in scoring at 14.1 points per game, has faced numerous bigger and more physical posts. She has enjoyed success and has waged a few losing battles, many of which have helped her improve. Now, in a figurative
South Carolina’s 6-7 center Kamilla Cardoso has been a handful for nearly every opponent. In Friday’s Final Four victory, she scored 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds in just over 22 minutes. Cardoso’s length is an issue as is her rebounding prowess. She averages 14.3 points and 9.5 rebounds a contest and is relatively fresh after playing more than 30 minutes in just two games in the last four months.