I would guess you are hinting at multiple atmospheric skips to slow down?
Interesting if that does work, maybe NASA was too risk-averse by then to try such an untried strategy? No one had ever done such a thing on purpose as far as I know, but a few Russions came down a good ways off from planned.
The shuttle made turns as part of its reentry program. They could have changed the program to take pressure off the bad wing. I don't know if they could have dumped the entire Spacehab module overboard, but they could have dumped a lot of equipment to reduce weight. The other step they could have taken would have been to land at the alternate sight in Australia where it was was warmer and the atmosphere less dense.