Coach Maeve Coleman could not hide her disappointment after Ireland opened their EuroBasket Women qualifying campaign with a 72-62 defeat to Norway.
Ireland looked to be on course for an opening-day win as they established a 47-44 lead by the end of the third period.
After Niamh Dwyer's free throw increased that advantage at the start of the fourth, Ireland, who had trailed by seven midway through the third period, looked set for victory.
But Norway hit back and a 12-0 run saw them establish a 56-48 lead midway through the final period and they eventually claimed the win in Bergen.
'I was very disappointed, we under-performed, we were just not at the game,' Coleman said.
'You have to give credit to the Norwegians. They were tough and they ultimately deserved their victory, no doubt about that.
'We completely under-performed from a defensive point of view, from the free-throw line, and the turnovers and offensive rebounds we gave up, the stats tell the story as far as I'm concerned.
'We were leading and we had the opportunity but they had been leading for most of the game. We did play a strong third quarter but when it was there for the taking, we just didn't take it. The Norwegian girls just wanted it more than we did, they just got stuck in and got the vital offensive rebounds. We had no answer.
'In the second half in particular, they were stronger from the free-throw line and at the end of the game, when we were having to stop the clock, they were converting all the free throws.'
Coleman was pleased with the performance of her side in the third period as Ireland managed to restrict the hosts to just six points as they engineered a slender three-point advantage.
'We stepped up our game in the third,' she said. 'We did force them to take some rushed shots and we unsettled them.
'We perhaps raised our game in the third quarter to the level we should have played the whole game and at the start of the fourth that continued. Then we just sat back and they definitely raised their game in the fourth and we didn't go with it.'
Coleman must now quickly turn her attentions to Saturday's home game with Netherlands, who claimed a hard-fought 66-61 win over Iceland at the weekend, and get to work on the practice court.
'I was very upset with the loss, but in retrospect all the things that went wrong are fixable. It's just a matter of sitting down and re-educating again.
'Turnovers, missed free throws and giving up those defensive boards, that is my job between now and Saturday,' she added.
