ESPN analyst Kara Lawson breaks down Notre Dame vs. South Carolina

TAMPA — The national semifinal meeting between South Carolina and Notre Dame offers some intriguing matchups. Former Tennessee guard and current ESPN analyst Kara Lawson offered her insights:

There's two problems, one for each team. I don't know what Notre Dame is going to do with all those big girls. They are strong, they are physical, there's a lot of them. They are skilled, that is a problem.

If the Notre Dame guards play the way that they're capable of playing, I'm not sure what South Carolina's able to do with the Notre Dame guards. The problem with Jewell (Loyd) is you can do a really good job on her and she still is able to make plays. She is not shooting well in this tournament, not playing as efficient as we've come to expect from her, but I expect her to play better. Lindsay Allen's playing very, very well.

And that is the matchup: How can (Khadijah) Sessions and (Tiffany) Mitchell defend them, and then how can (Brianna) Turner and (Taya) Reimer, what can they do with those? Can Notre Dame keep them off the boards?

That's going to be the big issue and not get into foul trouble. Because that's the other thing that South Carolina has such an advantage — they can go in the game and be physical and test the limits a little bit, test the limits of the referees, because they know they've got (A'ja) Wilson and (Alaina) Coates coming in.

And Turner and Reimer behind them, (Kathryn) Westbeld is a good player. After that? It's a big dropoff. I think Muffet (McGraw, head coach) hopes she doesn't get to the fourth because then it could be a problem.