Hannah Stuelke ‘doubtful’ for Saturday’s game against Bowling Green

After missing the last two games of the Gulf Coast Showcase with an injury, Head Coach Lisa Bluder announced that starting forward Hannah Stuelke will likely be unavailable for Saturday’s matchup against the Bowling Green Falcons.

“I don’t think she’ll be back for this weekend. Hopefully for the Iowa State, but that has yet to be determined. She is doubtful for this week,” said Bluder. “I’m not going to go into the exact injury. It’s just not my place to talk about the personal injuries of our players.”

Stuelke was injured in the tournament opener against Purdue-Fort Wayne on Friday night. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, she went up for a layup, but went down after taking an awkward step near the basket. She did not return to the game and was helped to the locker room. Hannah finished the game with 13 points and eight rebounds.

After appearing in 37 games last season, with no starts, Stuelke started each of the first six games of the season for the Hawkeyes, averaging 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Her 14.6 rebounds per 40 minutes leads the team, as does her 2.5 offensive rebounds per game. In the season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson, Hannah put up a career-high 22 points and nine rebounds, including 9/10 shooting from the floor.

In the Gulf Coast Showcase Championship game, Sharon Goodman played nearly 18 minutes, while Addi O’Grady saw 14 minutes at the center position. AJ Ediger played almost two minutes, while the Hawkeyes dealt with foul trouble in the second quarter. Lisa Bluder relied on Kate Martin to pick up a few minutes at the five, while they were in a pinch, but it’s not something they plan to do going forward. The Hawkeyes depth was tested against K-State when foul trouble became an issue.

“I don’t think we’ll be going against 6’7 very often, so that helps a little bit because I do think that AJ can come in and contribute. Maybe not against one of the best post players in America, but against most post players,” said Lisa Bluder. “Kate Martin, with her versatility and experience, can play against a lot of non-All-American post players.”

Sydney Affolter could see extended minutes at forward on Saturday, as well as next week against Iowa State, if Hannah is still not ready to go. Affolter is averaging 5.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 20.0 minutes per game. At post, Sharon Goodman has started back-to-back games and is expected to start against Bowling Green. Goodman is averaging 10.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 73.0% from the floor. Addi O’Grady is averaging 5.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 13.7 minutes per game as the backup five. Lisa Bluder spoke about the impact Sharon Goodman has had this season, after taking the better part of two years to return to 100% from an ACL tear.

“It really wasn’t this summer (that she got to 100%) to be quite honest. She was still getting back into this summer, but since the season started, I think she’s been playing really well,” said Bluder. “She missed three shots in Florida. She’s shooting the ball very well and she doesn’t force things…I’m happy with the way that Sharon progressed, but it wasn’t this summer that I was seeing it, it was really more this fall.”

The Hawkeyes matchup against Bowling Green is set for a 12:30pm CT tipoff at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will be televised on FS1.