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The Wyoming Cowgirls shoot the basketball.

Eventually.

You just have to wait for it. Kind of like waiting for paint to dry.

And while you are waiting, the Cowgirls like to put on a clinic on the fine art of setting screens.

"In about 24 seconds, they'll go through every screen that's known to mankind," said Lobos coach Don Flanagan. "Everything I've ever seen done with screens, they'll do in one play."

The Cowgirls' screens free up some of their better shooters for high-percentage shots, but they serve another purpose, too. They wear on you. They test your patience. They condition you to expect one screen after another after another . . .

"Pretty soon you are looking for the next screen coming and they are driving and you have forgotten to stop the ball," Flanagan said.

And sometimes the Cowgirls just quickly go backdoor.

And sometimes senior Hanna Zavecz will just take the basketball and drive her defender to the hoop.

The Cowgirls do all this stuff pretty well. That's why they are 12-1. That's why they are ranked No. 21 in the latest Associated Press poll.

That's why they were picked as the team to beat in the Mountain West Conference race. UNM was picked No. 4.

"I think it's exciting that they are ranked. I think we need that challenge," said 6-foot-1 Lobo freshman Jessica Kielpinski, who will be called on to help stop the two talented Wyoming forwards, 6-foot Zavecz and 6-2 Justyna Podziemska.

"I think we come out stronger when we know we are playing a better team. We're prepared for them."

The Lobos' last game was a Dec. 30 loss at UTEP. Since then, UNM has been ironing out some kinks and looking at the Wyoming motion offense that comes with all those screens.

"They are so patient," Kielpinski said.

Flanagan said Wyoming's idea of a perfect offensive set would be to "run 27 seconds off the clock, shoot the ball, get the rebound, run 27 seconds again, shoot the ball again."

Of course, UNM isn't exactly run-and-gun either.

Wyoming averages 63.8 points while holding opponents to 52.5 points. UNM averages 62.9 and holds opponents to 53.7.

The first team to 64 might be the winner.

Tonight is the MWC opener for both squads and six other MWC teams: Utah at Air Force, Colorado State at UNLV, San Diego State at TCU. Brigham Young opens Saturday at CSU.

The Cowgirls could get a huge leg-up on the league with a win in The Pit, where UNM is 52-6 against MWC foes. Not too many visitors leave Albuquerque happy.

"We need to win at home," Flanagan said. "This is a tough conference to win on the road so we have to make it tough for any team to come in here and win.

"The energy of The Pit, and our players feeling that energy, gets us to make that little bit of extra effort and sometimes that will win you some games."