I understand the safety motivation for the rule, but don't get me started on "shooting space." Especially these days: smart attackers have learned to anticipate how defenses are going to slide, and run at off-ball defenders to create a violation. Also, coming from the men's game, I'm not a fan of the free-position attempt; I think it penalizes the defense too heavily for relatively minor fouls. I'd prefer a 30-second penalty, as in the men's game.
There is more zone defense allowed in the women's game than in the past, but there are still limits, which I don't think I fully understand. You're still not allowed to just pack the eight-meter area and dare the offense to shoot from outside, but you see more of what would be labeled as "junk" defenses in basketball, like the so-called "backer zone," which has a lot of trapping principles baked into it.
The big change in the women's game comes next year, with the 90-second shot clock.