North Texas has suffered its share of disappointing losses in head coach Shanice Stephens’ debut season

None was quite the equal of an 80-78 stunner against Troy on Wednesday at the Super Pit.

UNT led by 13 in the first half, blew the advantage and used a dramatic run late to force overtime only to fail to make the plays down the stretch on its home floor.  Kristen Smith hit a layup for Troy with 43 seconds left in overtime to give the Trojans the lead for good.

Senior forward Amber Jackson had a chance to answer for UNT, but her turnaround jumper with seven seconds left rolled in and out.

“That is a tough one,” Jackson said. “We had them at the beginning of the game, got behind, battled back and then got it into overtime. To lose it like that is tough.”

The loss was the Mean Green’s eighth in its last 10 games and prevented UNT (7-13, 3-6) from building on a 15-point win over Florida International a week ago that ranked as its best performance of the season.

The loss also spoiled a big night for Jackson, who scored a career high 30 points to go along with 10 rebounds and hit what proved to be the biggest shot of the night for UNT late in regulation.

UNT trailed 69-58 with just 3:03 left in the second half before going on a 12-1 run in the closing minutes to tie the game up and send it into overtime. Jackson banked in a turnaround jumper with seven seconds left that pushed the game into the extra session.

“We just didn’t bring the same intensity at the end of the game,” Stephens said. “If we start the game like that, it is a no contest. We needed to show that kind of effort the whole way.”

UNT appeared as if it would have an easy night while using its pressure defense to run out to a 25-12 lead at the 7:40 mark of the first half. Troy nearly had as many turnovers as it had points at that point with 10.

Troy (9-11, 4-6) went on a 15-3 run midway through the first half and took its first lead of the game at 35-33 on a Tenia Manuel basket. The Trojans finished the half on an 8-1 run and led 39-34 at the break after Manuel hit a shot at the buzzer.

“We played great defense against FIU and shut them down early,” Jackson said. “We relaxed a little bit with the lead.”

Brittnie Davis led Troy with 17 points, but it was Manuel and the Trojans bench players who ended up being the stars of the game for the Trojans. Davis had scored just 10 points the entire season before breaking out for 16 points and 11 rebounds against the Mean Green.

Troy’s reserves outscored UNT’s bench 32-8.

For a while it appeared as if Troy’s reserves would help the Trojans put the game away early. Manuel gave Troy its 69-58 lead with a layup at the 3:03 mark.

Jackson helped spark UNT’s run to push the game into overtime, scoring seven points in the final three minutes. Junior guard Brittney James hit a pair of free throws during the surge and scored 12 points on the night.

Senior guard Tricia Lee added 10.

That wasn’t enough to overcome Troy, which shot 53 percent from the field for the game and made the plays in overtime to turn the tide after UNT made its comeback late in the second half.

“That is something we can build off of,” Stephens said of UNT’s play at the end of regulation. “That kind of fight is what we want. It is there. If we play the way we did during that stretch, we can do some good things.”

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

Troy 80, North Texas 78

TROY (9-11, 4-6) – Shearing 2-4 2-2 6, McNair 4-8 1-3 9, Davis 6-8 2-2 17, Roper 2-6 1-4 6, Morrissy 5-14 0-1 10, McAppion 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 3-4 1-5 8, Realph 4-10 0-1 8, Lindley 0-0 0-0 0, Manuel 7-8 2-5 16. Totals 33-62 9-23 80.

NORTH TEXAS (7-13 3-6) – Jackson 13-19 4-9 30, Lee 4-7 2-2 10, Hall 4-10 1-5 9, James 2-10 7-9 12, El 3-9 1-2 9, Thompson 1-1 0-1 2, Buckley 0-1 0-0 0, Escalera 2-10 0-0 6, Torru 0-2 0-0 0, Timms 0-3 0-2 0. Totals 29-72 15-30 78.

Halftime – Troy 39-34. 3-point goals – Troy 5-9 (Davis 3-4, Roper 1-1, Morrissy 0-1, Smith 1-2, Realph 0-1), UNT 5-17 (Lee 0-1, James 1-4, El 2-6, Escalera 2-6). Fouled out – Shearing, McNair, Realph. Rebounds – Troy 43 (Manuel 11), UNT 47 (Hall 11). Assists – Troy 15 (Smith, Roper 4), UNT 14 (Lee 5). Total fouls – Troy 26, UNT 24. A – 508.