Watched an early part of the final, both players were were down to 8 left and messed it up.
Regarding women, I think there are a few factors:
-Historically it is very much a man's game, played in pubs etc, probably only relatively recently have many women started getting involved in that scene so much smaller player base
-In terms of physical attributes I wonder if height could be a small factor, i.e. women are typically shorter. Phil Taylor is only about 5'8" but I guess there may be lower threshold where it gets increasingly harder.
-Generic women stuff like hormones etc maybe play a factor(?) dunno really
-Usual thing about about women supposedly having worse spatial awareness