North Texas’ game against TWU on Tuesday won’t go down as the first official win of Shanice Stephens’ tenure with the Mean Green.

That didn’t seem to matter a whole lot to UNT’s new head coach, who saw enough good signs in the Mean Green’s 85-77 exhibition win over its crosstown rival at the Super Pit to declare her first outing a success.

“It counts for sure,” Stephens said. “This allows us to see a baseline of where our team is. It was a good battle. I give TWU a lot of props. A couple of their players stepped up. That is what we needed to work on, shutting down other team’s key players.”

That challenge will be a lot easier to take on after the Mean Green adjusted well to Stephens’ up-tempo style. Senior guard Jo Hall finished with a double-double that included 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Three other UNT players finished in double figures and the Mean Green forced 22 turnovers with its pressure defense.

“It went really well,” Hall said. “We are still adjusting, naturally. … The young players are playing well and the seniors are doing great.”

Hall was among the players who made a seamless transition to playing in a new system for at least one night when the Mean Green improved as the game progressed. UNT trailed for parts of the first half before Hall scored eight of her points in a 13-4 run to close the first half.

That surge turned a 1-point deficit into a 48-40 lead at halftime. UNT led the rest of the way.

“Our defense started to step up,” Hall said. “Coach wanted us to get in the passing lanes. The ball started falling into our hands and we were getting layups. It snowballed from there.”

Hall’s performance was particularly important because UNT played without Amber Jackson. The senior forward missed the game while completing a suspension that Stephens imposed over the summer.

Jackson was a preseason first-team All-Sun Belt Confer-ence selection and led the Mean Green with an average of 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds a game last season.

“It was a one-game suspension,” Stephens said. “That was it. We will have her for the rest of the season. She has been doing great in practice. It was the principle of it to finish it out.”

UNT needed a good game from Hall not only to fill in for Jackson, but to hold off a TWU team that gave the Mean Green fits early on.

The game represented a rare opportunity for the Pioneers to face a Division I team, especially in its hometown.

TWU led by as many as four points and went on a 7-1 run late in the first half to take its last lead at 36-35.

Renee Renz scored four of her 23 points during the surge. Jessica Durr scored 25 to lead the Pioneers, who struggled to match UNT’s size and athleticism.

The Mean Green finished with a 56-43 edge in rebounds.

“We played hard, but killed ourselves with turnovers and giving up rebounds,” TWU coach Beth Jillson said. “We will learn from our mistakes and move on. Give UNT credit, they were great on the boards.”

Stephens and Hall said UNT still has a long way to go, but both were happy with the first step they took against TWU.

“It’s very big to get this win,” Hall said. “It shows that we are here, ready to play and ready for the season to start.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .

North Texas 85, TWU 77

TWU – Renz 7-22 7-8 23, Jessica Durr 7-15 9-12 25, Dixon 2-5 0-2 4, Bolds 2-10 0-2 6, Hanna 1-6 0-0 2, Hashman 4-6 0-0 10, Bell 0-6 1-1 1, Pool 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 25-73 17-25 77.

NORTH TEXAS – Timms 3-4 0-0 6, Lee 3-10 4-4 10, Hall 9-19 0-4 18, Escalera 4-7 4-4 13, James 3-13 2-2 8, Thompson 1-1 0-0 2, Buckley 2-4 0-0 5, N. El 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey 5-5 2-6 12, Goodman 1-3 0-0 2, M. el 4-8 1-3 9, Torru 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-74 13-23 85.

Halftime – UNT 48-40. 3-point goals – TWU 10-25 (Renz 2-4, Durr 2-5, Dixon 0-1, Bolds 2-4, Hanna 0-3, Hashman 2-2, Bell 0-3, Pool 2-3), UNT 2-9 (Lee 0-2, Escalera 1-1, James 0-2, Buckley 1-3, M. El 0-1). Fouled out – Lee. Rebounds – TWU 43 (Renz 12), UNT 56 (Hall 14). Assists – TWU 18 (Dixon, Bolds 6), UNT – 19 (Lee 7). Total fouls – TWU 20, UNT 23.