This post was updated April 6 at 11:40 p.m.

Everything was in place for a UCLA women’s basketball game as fans grabbed hot dogs, cheered with friends and wore UCLA gear – except this time, the players were over 2,000 miles away in Tampa, Florida.

Over 400 students, families and alumni filled Pauley Pavilion for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four Watch Party on Friday. The stadium cheered as the No. 1 seeded Bruins’ (34-3, 16-2 Big Ten) first Final Four game in the NCAA era kicked off against the No. 2 seeded Huskies (37-3, 18-0 Big East) on the video board at 6:30 p.m.

“A lot of the times, even at the collegiate level, the men’s sports get a lot more attention,” said Marielena Borrego, a law student who attended with her sister. “Our ladies out here are crushing it, so we had to come support.”

UCLA’s Spirit Squad and Bruin Marching Band tossed T-shirts and performed excerpts of pop songs during commercial breaks. After each quarter, the announcer pulled raffle tickets where the winners would earn a prize from the women’s basketball team.

“The first time he said the numbers, I didn’t believe it,” said Zariah McCray, a first-year psychology student who won a basketball signed by the entire women’s team in the first raffle. “It’s sinking in still.”

During the game, UCLA struggled to find its footing in the first quarter and trailed UConn by 10 points at the start of the second. Where there had been loud cheers for junior center Lauren Betts’ first block of the game against UConn’s Jana El Alfy, applause turned into groans for missed layups as the Huskies started to take control of the game.

[Related: No. 1, done: UConn guts UCLA women’s basketball by 34, ending historic NCAA run]

Despite the team’s struggles, fans at Pauley still cheered for junior guard Kiki Rice’s first 3-pointer of the game in the second quarter.

“We need to relax a little bit, get back in the game, and pull this one through,” McCray said. “We need to make the shots we’re taking.”

Although UCLA entered halftime with a 20-point deficit, spirit groups kept fans engaged through performances. In addition to the marching band playing songs such as “Juice” by Lizzo, two fans participated in a layup-tic-tac-toe competition.

Olivia Pacheco’s baton-twirling performance elicited whoops and applause from the crowd. Pacheco said her passion comes from a lifetime of supporting the Bruins – her parents met at UCLA and she met UCLA’s twirler as a child.

“I’ve wanted to be the UCLA twirler since I was eight years old,” said Pacheco, a third-year public health student and the marching band’s feature twirler. “The first thing that goes through my mind is a little Olivia who always dreamed of this, and then the second one is just entertain, entertain, entertain.”

Chris Yamada, an alumnus who attended the party with his wife and children, said his family came together to watch the Bruins, adding that they saw UCLA play against South Carolina and Creighton earlier in the season.

“All the women on the team are great role models, especially for my daughter,” Yamada said.

Attendees began trickling out after halftime and even more left after the third quarter when the Bruins racked up more missed shots and the Huskies capitalized by extending their lead to over 30. By the end of the game, the applause was replaced by a resigned 8-clap as it became clear that UCLA’s March Madness run was at an end.

“It’s upsetting because I know we’re better than this,” said Maxwell Loiacono, a second-year business economics student. “I’m looking forward to next year. I think we’re gonna be just as good as we are this year.”