UConn fans, parents happy to be at NCAA Tournament, get closer to return to normalcy

SAN ANTONIO — Stephen Philbrick attended his first Final Four in 2001 in St. Louis. He wasn’t going to let this year be any different, pandemic and all.

“I haven’t missed one since,” said Philbrick, 69, who lives in Canton. “UConn’s missed a few, but I haven’t.”

And so there he was Saturday morning, standing in a line for security outside the Alamodome.

“My wife usually comes with me,” he said, “but it’s also Easter Sunday next week. We’ve got a bunch of friends that normally come down in a group, but this year they said, ‘We’re going to have to pass.’ I said, ‘I’ve got to be here, I’ve got to be here.’”

Philbrick was wearing a UConn T-shirt. So, too, were many of the 100 or so others waiting to get into the building in anticipation of the Sweet 16 matchup between the No. 1 Huskies and fifth-seeded Iowa.

Saturday was the first day fans were allowed to attend the women’s NCAA Tournament. Though the capacity had been capped at approximately 5,000 for the Alamodome, only 2,418 tickets ended up being distributed for UConn-Iowa, according to the NCAA. The first two rounds had been limited to friends and families, with each member of the teams’ 34-person traveling party allotted six tickets.

Win or lose, Philbrick plans to stay in Texas through the national championship game, scheduled for April 4. Having already received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, he’s not worried so much about the virus as he is about the Huskies’ chances of winning their 12th national championship.

“Lots of trepidation,” he said. “I’m always nervous before just about any game.”

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Fans are seen in the stands during the opening tipoff of a game in the Sweet 16 round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

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Fans are seen in the stands during player introductions before a game in the Sweet 16 round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

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A limited number of fans watch during UConn’s game against Iowa in the Sweet 16 round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

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Of course, it’s not just fans making the trip.

Bob Bueckers, UConn star Paige Bueckers’ father, flew into San Antonio around midnight Friday. He, too, will be sticking around for the entirety of the tournament.

“The soonest I could get down here was for the Sweet 16,” said Bueckers, who lives in Maryland and brought both his girlfriend and his son, Drew, 8. “If we don’t win, we’re just going to make a vacation out of it. If we win, we’re going to make an even better vacation out of it.”

Bueckers had attended two games earlier this season, wins over South Carolina (Feb. 8) and Seton Hall (Feb. 10) at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. This trip, he said, brought some normalcy to a year that’s been anything but.

Freshman Saylor Poffenbarger’s parents and 8-year-old brother, Higgins, arrived in time for the Sweet 16 as well, as did Bueckers’ mother, Amy Fuller, and the families of juniors Evina Westbrook and Olivia Nelson-Ododa.

“It’s fun to see a live sport event in person,” said Poffenbarger’s mom, Amy. “My first one (since the pandemic began) was a JV high school football game. It’s good to get out here, walk around the River Walk, and see how life is slowly getting back to what it used to be.”

“What we tried to do is create an environment that was first safe and second celebratory,” said Colleen Bridger, assistant city manager with oversight of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.

Fuller, who lives in Montana, is sharing an Airbnb with the Westbrooks.

“It’s a fantastic city for a tournament, that’s for sure,” Fuller said. “Nice weather, feels very safe. After the game Saturday, a group of us went out to eat. Everyone saw UConn gear, they were honking.”

Fuller has enjoyed the camaraderie with other parents.

“It would be really hard to come down here for as long as we have if we didn’t have other parents to hang out with in person,” she said. “Eva (Westbrook’s mom) is my people. I opened up the refrigerator, and it’s like we’re twins. They’re really fun to be around.”

They’ll be staying until April 5 — the day after the NCAA title game.

“The team’s goal is our goal, right?” Fuller said. “We’ll be here till Monday.”

dbonjour@ctpost.com; @DougBonjour