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HARTFORD, Conn. — It was a disheartening disappearing act.

The University of New Mexico (24-9) women's basketball team vanished on the biggest stage of the season, falling 59-52 to Wisconsin-Green Bay (29-3) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday in the Hartford Civic Center.

The Lobos who willed themselves to a Mountain West Conference tournament championship never showed up.

Neither did the Lobos who started conference play 0-3 - games that were heartbreakers because UNM played with such effort and intensity but were betrayed by bad shooting.

This time, the Lobos betrayed themselves.

"There's really no excuse," senior guard Katie Montgomery said. "We could have played a lot better. We just couldn't get anything done. We didn't shoot well. We didn't rebound well and we didn't play well. Wisconsin-Green Bay outplayed us and looked like they wanted it more. It hurts, but we never could snap out of whatever was holding us back."

UNM coach Don Flanagan said he tried to snap UNM out of the funk.

He focused first on junior forward Dionne Marsh.

The Lobos' offense has long run through Marsh, who has been a big-time performer. She averaged 17 points per game in NCAA Tournament games, but struggled to a quiet 10 points against the Phoenix.

"I couldn't get her attention," Flanagan said. ". . . I couldn't get her focused on the game. I tried nice. Nice didn't work. I tried less than nice. That didn't work. You know, you gotta try substitution, that's what you try."

Marsh struggled to establish position inside against the scrappier and shorter Wisconsin-Green Bay lineup. The Phoenix used guards to back Marsh up under the basket and swarmed at every entry pass, using quick hands and pure passion to get after every ball thrown Marsh's way.

"I think the posts fought so hard on defense against mostly guards that we didn't have as much energy on offense," Marsh said. "And I couldn't really get into a rhythm at all on offense. I did try moving and getting things started, but it was just a really bad night for me."

The Lobos started off flat and briefly rallied to claim a 29-26 halftime lead.

They talked about fixing all the mistakes of the first half - getting out-rebounded 21-13, shooting 35 percent, forcing up bad shots after failing to run their offense and getting out-hustled to every loose ball.

Apparently, the Phoenix had the same game plan and actually executed it.

Wisconsin-Green Bay opened the second half on an 11-2 run and snagged a 44-34 lead at the 14:04 mark in the second half that UNM didn't threaten the rest of the way.

"We tried getting the ball into Dionne more in the second half because we knew a few shots from her could get us started and get them into foul trouble, but you hesitate to throw the ball in when the guards are swarming around her," Briody said. "You just don't want another turnover in that situation because you're already so far behind."

Once UNM began playing with that fear, it was nearly impossible to overcome the deficit.

Montgomery said it became a lot harder to knock down open outside looks once the clock started winding down in the second half.

"We finally got some looks because they were pressuring Dionne so much, but we just couldn't hit them," she said. "I think we really tensed up and felt the pressure to score quickly because the game wasn't going our way. We tried to hard to change our luck and pressured ourselves."

Montgomery and Briody led the Lobos with 11 points apiece. Junior guard Brandi Kimble also turned in a respectable game with eight points, eight rebounds and five steals.

Wisconsin-Green Bay forward Nicole Soulis scored 13 of her 15 points in the pivotal second half. Guard Amanda Popp added 14 points, and guard Natalie Berglin chipped in 11 to pace the Phoenix. They extended their winning streak to 26 games and face No. 1 seed Connecticut on Tuesday.

Flanagan said Marsh's struggle exposed a major flaw in UNM's game plans all season.

She has turned in so many dynamic games during her career, the Lobos came to rely on her presence at the expense of running their offense well without her.

"That's always a problem when you depend on someone a great deal," Flanagan said.

Marsh only played 12 minutes in the second half, a sign of Flanagan's frustration and search for someone else who could give the Lobos a spark.

He admitted it was likely his fault there was no one else on the Lobos' young bench who was capable of giving UNM the surge of energy it needed.

"That goes back to not having enough kids in the rotation during the season," Flanagan said. "I thought we were fortunate not to have that problem at some other time of the year where we couldn't get enough kids on the floor. And it became evident (Sunday)."

After the game, several of the dejected Lobos gathered.

Freshman guard Amy Beggin apologized to seniors Timi E-Nunu, Briody and Montgomery, deeply saddened she couldn't do more to extend their seasons.

"It's really hard to take because if we could have played the way we did in the Mountain West Conference tournament, we definitely could have won that game," Beggin said.

Briody said it was tough going out on such an awkward note.

"We knew it had to end, but I think we all wish it could have ended with us going out swinging with the best stuff we had," she said. "This wasn't our best night."

For all the flaws, Flanagan said this team shouldn't be judged by one ugly NCAA Tournament performance.

"This didn't ruin our season," Flanagan said. "Earlier in the year, we were not playing well and easily could have had a very mediocre year. It's a testament to this team that they fought through that slump and won the Mountain West Conference tournament. It didn't end the way we wanted, but they did not have a bad season."