No. 3 Cardinals Advance to Sweet 16 With 69-68 Win over No. 6 Alabama

Monday, March 23

LOUISVILLE, KY

12 PM

University of Louisville

29-7,15-3ACC

No. 6 Alabama

24-11,7-9SEC

Alabama

Louisville

No. 3 Cardinals Advance to Sweet 16 With 69-68 Win over No. 6 Alabama

March 23, 2026 | Women's Basketball

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It is the Cardinals’ 13th Sweet 16 in program history

By: Matt Paras

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The No. 3 seed Louisville women's basketball team (29-7) is still dancing after its thrilling 69-68 win over No. 6 seed Alabama (24-11) Monday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center. Facing a tie game with under four minutes remaining, the Cardinals took the lead for good and did not look back to clinch its 13th all-time appearance in the Sweet 16.

All 13 Sweet 16 appearances have come under the tutelage of head coach Jeff Walz. He is tied for third all-time among active head coaches for career Sweet 16 appearances. He trails only Geno Auriemma and Kim Mulkey and is tied with Dawn Staley. Louisville is one of six teams to make 11 or more Sweet 16's since the 2011 tournament.

Louisville was paced by Tajianna Roberts and Elif Istanbulluoglu, who both had a team-high 18 points on the afternoon. Roberts tied a season high with four three-pointers and added four assists and two rebounds. Istanbulluoglu had 11 rebounds for her second career double-double. She shot 7-for-11 from the field and had three assists with zero turnovers in 38 minutes played. Mackenly Randolph was one point shy of another double-double as she had nine points and a career and team-best 13 rebounds, with seven coming on the offensive end. Laura Ziegler was in double figures with 12 points and had eight rebounds and two blocks in the win.

It was a slow start for both teams from the floor as shots were hard to come by early in the first quarter. The Cardinals started to wake up the offense with a 9-0 spurt that was capped by a three-pointer from Roberts, the first of the game for the Cards. Alabama responded with a 6-0 run of its own and after the opening quarter, the Cardinals held a 15-14 lead. Roberts had a team-best five points in the opening 10 minutes.

Both teams started to get shots to fall in the second quarter. Alabama jumped out to a four-point lead but the Cardinals answered with a 5-0 run to regain the lead. Roberts got to double-digits in the second thanks to two more three-pointers and Istanbulluoglu added a triple in the frame. Alabama was also hitting from distance as well, as they were four for their first eight from behind the arc in the quarter. Alabama hit five three-pointers in the quarter and the Crimson Tide had a 35-34 lead heading into the half.

Roberts had a team-best 11 points in the first half while Istanbulluoglu added nine and Ziegler tallied eight first-half points. The Cardinals owned the first half advantage on the boards, 20-13, while Randolph and Istanbulluoglu had a team-high six rebounds.

The Cardinals were scorching from the field coming out of halftime. Louisville hit seven of its first nine shots in the quarter. Roberts was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor while Istanbulluoglu hit two of her first three shots as the pair both hit a three-pointer in the opening minutes of the third. Louisville shot 9-for-16 from the field in the third to take a 54-49 lead into the fourth.

Alabama scored seven of the first 10 points in the fourth and to take the lead but it did not last long. After a key offensive rebound from Randolph, Istanbulluoglu knocked down her third three-pointer of the game to put the Cards back up by one. It was back and forth for a few minutes before the Cards took the lead at the 3:25 mark and did not look back. The Cards held Alabama scoreless for over three minutes and then a floater at the end of the shot clock by Reyna Scott sealed the win.

Up Next for the Cardinals is the Sweet 16 down in Fort Worth, Texas. They will face off with No. 2 seed Michigan from Dickies Arena on Saturday, March 28. The game will be aired nationally on ABC and the tip time will be announced at a later time. Stay tuned to GoCards.com and our social media channels for all game updates.