LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Elif Istanbulluoglu had 18 points and a key steal with 1:42 remaining that led to Reyna Scott's one-handed jumper as the shot clock expired, Imari Berry added two free throws with 8.2 seconds left and third-seeded Louisville held off No. 6 seed Alabama 69-68 on Monday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinals (29-7) reached their first Sweet 16 since 2023 despite several missed late free throws. Scott missed two with 2.3 seconds to go — the second of which Louisville coach Jeff Walz said was intentional — to give the Crimson Tide one last chance for a desperation basket despite having no timeouts.
Diana Collins grabbed the rebound and launched a shot from midcourt that bounced off the backboard, sending Louisville to a matchup Saturday against No. 2 seed Michigan in the Fort Worth 3 regional. The Cardinals will be making their 13th overall appearance in the Sweet 16.
“I thought it was in our best interest to miss and not give them an opportunity to set up a play to throw it down the floor,” Walz said of the final sequence. “If she makes that shot, it's a tough way to lose, but I thought the odds were more favorable to do that.”
Louisville's Sweet 16 quest required big plays with the Tide seemingly a basket away from changing the outcome. It also demanded resilience, and Cardinals players credited Berry for shaking off 1-of-7 shooting and the weight of the moment to sink both shots that provided the difference.
“We did a great job picking Imari up,” said Istanbulluoglu, who made 7 of 11 from the field to offset 1-of-4 shooting at the line. “We're going to have ups and downs sometimes, shots aren't going to go in. It happens. ... She didn't quit."
Tajianna Roberts also scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while Laura Ziegler added 12 for Louisville, which won despite making 8 of 16 from the foul line and 7 of 26 from 3-point range.
Alabama freshman Ace Austin had 17 points, including five 3s, off the bench before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. The Crimson Tide shot 12 of 26 from behind the arc after attempting just 10 3s in their first-round victory over Rhode Island.
Collins finished with 14 points and Karly Weathers had 13, including a 3-pointer with four seconds left that got Alabama within one. The Tide outshot Louisville 46% to 45% but missed four consecutive attempts over the final 2 1/2 minutes, allowing Cardinals to grab a slight cushion.
“I think it's more what happened early in the game,” Weathers said. “But also credit to Louisville. They just made plays down the stretch.”
Every possession mattered in a game with 18 lead changes and eight ties, and Alabama made its presence felt from long range.
Collins' long-range shooting helped keep the Tide close. She went deep 4 for 5 times before going to the bench early in the fourth with her fourth personal foul and the Cardinals matching their biggest lead at 56-49.
Both teams took 26 shots from deep and were nearly even from the floor. Louisville's 41-24 rebounding advantage — 14 offensive — resulted in a 14-7 scoring edge in second-chance points. Louisville also shot 12 more free throws than Alabama, which converted all four chances.
“We fouled 13 times, they fouled five,” said Tide coach Kristy Curry, pointing out that neither team shot a free throw in the first half. “Yeah, it impacted the game.”
Louisville's successful weekend at the KFC Yum! Center provided an upside after the Cardinals dropped five on home floor, four by three points or fewer. They had the support of a crowd of 5,734 that made it noisy despite a noon weekday tipoff resulting in a slightly ragged start for both squads.
“They always show up,” Ziegler said. “We're grateful we could give them a win for the last home game this year."
Louisville faces second-seeded Big Ten member Michigan on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
Louisville forward Laura Ziegler, right, and guard Tajianna Roberts (22) celebrate with guard Imari Berry, center, after Berry made two free throws to put Louisville ahead during the second half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Alabama, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
NEW YORK (AP) — An Air Canada jet carrying more than 70 passengers collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday, killing the pilot and copilot and injuring several others, officials said.
The impact severed the cockpit, and hurled a flight attendant — still secured to her seat — far from the crash site, her daughter told a Canadian TV station. The flight attendant survived.
The fire truck was crossing the tarmac just before midnight after being given permission to check on another plane that had aborted its takeoff. Before the collision, an air traffic controller can be heard on airport communications frantically telling the fire truck to stop.
Roughly 20 minutes later, the controller appears to blame himself. “We were dealing with an emergency earlier,” the controller said. “I messed up.”
About 40 passengers and crew members on the regional jet from Montreal, and two people from the fire truck, were taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries. Most were released by Monday morning, authorities said.
A key for investigators will be examining coordination of the airport’s air traffic and ground traffic at the time of the crash, said Mary Schiavo, a former Department of Transportation Inspector General. “This has been happening for years and sadly some of the most horrific air crashes in history happen on the ground at the airport.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said LaGuardia is “well-staffed” but still faces a shortage of air traffic controllers. He said there are 33 certified controllers but the goal is to have 37. More than one controller was on duty at the time of the accident, he said.
“I can’t give specifics on what went wrong,” Duffy said, deferring to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation and planned a news conference for Monday evening. Canada also sent a team of investigators.
The crash shut down LaGuardia — the New York region’s third busiest hub — during what was already a messy time at U.S. airports because of a partial government shutdown.
Flights resumed Monday afternoon on one runway and with lengthy delays. The shutdown caused some disruptions at other airports, too, especially for Delta, which has a major presence at LaGuardia.
The collision left cables and debris dangling from the mangled cockpit. Images showed the fire truck flipped onto its side, with most of the damage to its back half.
Flight attendant Solange Tremblay suffered multiple fractures to one leg and will need surgery after being thrown from the plane, daughter Sarah Lépine told Canadian news station TVA Nouvelles.
Her survival is “a total miracle,” Lépine said. “I’m still trying to understand how all this happened, but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her.”
Passenger Rebecca Liquori said the plane hit turbulence while descending, and she then felt it brake hard and heard a loud boom.
“Everybody just jolted out of their seats. People hit their heads. People were bleeding,” Liquori told News12 Long Island, a station where she once worked.
Liquori said passengers helped each other slide down a wing.
“I’m just happy to be alive,” said Liquori, who had gone to Montreal for a cousin’s baby shower. “I would have never pictured a one-hour flight that I’ve done countless times … ending like this.”
The pilot and copilot who died were both based out of Canada, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.
President Donald Trump called it a “terrible” situation. “They made a mistake,” he told reporters. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement the accident was “deeply saddening.”
The fire truck was traveling across the runway to respond to a United Airlines flight, whose pilot had reported “an issue with odor,” said Garcia.
Two Port Authority employees in the fire truck suffered injuries not believed to be life-threatening, Garcia said. One was expected to be released Monday while the other will stay in the hospital for observation, she said.
There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada, according to the airline. The flight originated at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.
Hours after the crash, the plane remained on the runway with its crumpled nose tilted upward.
The air traffic controller tried to warn the fire truck.
“Stop, stop, stop, Truck 1. Stop, stop, stop,” the transmission says. “Stop, Truck 1.” The controller can then be heard frantically diverting an incoming aircraft from landing.
Air traffic controllers are not impacted by the partial government shutdown that has caused long delays at airport security checkpoints in recent days. They have been affected by past shutdowns.
The FAA has been chronically short on air traffic controllers for years. Former FAA air traffic control chief Mike McCormick said LaGuardia has not had perennial staffing problems, but the tower would have been lightly staffed during the overnight shift at the time of the crash.
LaGuardia is one of 35 major U.S. airports with an advanced surface surveillance system designed to help keep track of planes and vehicles crossing the airport.
An alarm heard in the background of the air traffic control audio was likely from the system and would have alerted the tower to the potential collision, McCormick said.
“It’s an aid in a situation like this,” he said, but the system doesn’t know if someone has given clearance for a vehicle to cross a runway.
FAA statistics show there were 1,636 runway incursions last year.
The story has been updated to correct that the Port Authority video on trucks was put out last year, not last month.
Associated Press reporters Michael R. Sisak, Anthony Izaguirre and Mae Anderson in New York; Rob Gillies in Toronto; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed.
Officials investigate the site, Monday, March 23, 2026, where an Air Canada jet came to rest after colliding with a Port Authority firetruck at LaGuardia Airport, shortly after landing Sunday night in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A Port Authority firetruck lays on its side just off the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with an Air Canada jet shortly after it landed late Sunday night in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Officials investigate the site, Monday, March 23, 2026, where an Air Canada jet came to rest after colliding with a Port Authority firetruck at LaGuardia Airport, shortly after landing Sunday night in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Investigators walk the site, Monday, March 23, 2026, where an Air Canada jet came to rest after colliding with a Port Authority fire truck at LaGuardia Airport, after landing Sunday night in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle after landing in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
A Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle lays on its side off of runway 4 after colliding with an Air Canada jet after it landed at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle after landing in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Firetrucks lineup outside LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in New York, after an Air Canada Jet collided with a Port Authority vehicle on a runway. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Firetrucks lineup outside LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in New York, after an Air Canada Jet collided with a Port Authority vehicle on a runway. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
FILE - A control tower is seen at Laguardia International Airport on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova, File)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
