I managed to get there - but only because I retired this year and haven't spent $$$ on season, regional or final four tickets.
I noticed when I got on the website that the lower bowl seats on the sides were just about sold out. I got the last in my section according to that. Yet when I got there, there were more empty seats than accounted for by just a few no-shows.
Didn't everyone have to specifically buy these tickets? So no season ticket holders or corporate seats for no-shows? One problem is that if a fan looked at the ticket possibilities, they could have decided that there were no "good seats" left.
The students that were there were great. Of course would have liked more of them. I don't know what their ticket price was. It does become a cost issue for many students to attend many games - especially a game that was perceived as an "easy win". Still WCBB hasn't had the size of the student fan base that the mens game enjoyed.
Cost is an issue for many of us. Tickets aren't that expensive compared to other amusements, but it adds up over a season. And you add in parking and snacks, etc. so it is harder for families when times are tougher. And if you buy early or spring for season tickets, you face the possibility that you won't be able to get to some games because of winter weather.
TV is helping to kill UConn WCBB live sport attendance. Casual fans have access to their team through TV and are tough to persuade to spend the time and money to attend in person. Expecting them to come relatively late at night on a weekday just compounds the difficulties. Many fans are TV-only. They became fans by watching on TV and the extensive coverage means they are used to watching from the comfort of home. And some of us started this way when the games were sellouts and you had to pay $$$ to try to get good season tickets. Only the big rivalry games create the buzz to get sellouts.
Sure, in some ways UConn women are victims of their own success. Fans are tougher to excite over games UConn figures to win big. It is more difficult to get bodies in the seats. But the UConn fan base extends well beyond the in-person attendance. The TV networks know this. Unfortuantely it is why we got these crummy start times in the first two rounds.