The Big Game January 2010

Look below for The Big Game for each day of January 2010. But, first, the summary.

History in the Making January 2010

What people will still be talking about 25 years from now

1. Lindsay Whalen coming home to the Lynx

2. St. Thomas men win a record 32 straight MIAC games

3. Kevin Noreen breaks boys high school career scoring record, well, unofficially

4. Macalester contends for MIAC women's title 5 years after its program was suspended for lack of enough players

5. Gopher men and women both headed for the back door

Top 5 Games

1. St. Thomas men 77 St. Mary's 68, 32nd straight MIAC win, 1/11

2. Gustavus men 56 St. Thomas 51, ending Tommies' win streak, 1/13

3. Macalester women 73 Gustavus 61, Lady Scots' turnaround continues, 1/4

4. Minnesota Transitions boys 81 Mpls. Roosevelt 51, Kevin Noreen scores 39 to set unofficial boys career scoring record

5. Hopkins boys 83 Robbinsdale Cooper 75, best high school game of the month, 1/29

All-January

1. Kevin Noreen, Minnesota Transitions, Most Valuable Minnesotan

2. Ann Baltzer, Macalester

3. Rachel Banham, Lakeville North

4. Jenna Smith, Illinois (formerly Bloomington Kennedy), who ate the Gopher women alive twice

5. Estan Tyler, St. Paul Johnson

Team of the Month

1. St. Thomas men

2. Lakeville North girls

3. Macalester women

4. St. Paul Johnson boys

5. Minnesota-Crookston women

Coach of the Month

1. Ellen Thompson, Macalester women, Most Valuable Coach

2. Steve Fritz, St. Thomas men

3. Vern Simmons, St. Paul Johnson boys

4. Matt Marganthaler, Minnesota State Mankato men

5. Faith Patterson, DeLaSalle girls

The Big Game and Most Valuable Minnesotans (MVM)

And the Most Valuable Minnesota Coach (MVC)

1/31 Minnesota Timberwolves 112 New York Knicks 91. The Wolves went big, and won big. Love and Big Al combined for 47 points and 22 boards. MVM: Jenna Smith, Illinois (formerly Bloomington Kennedy) 18/14 rebounds. MVC: Kurt Rambis, Timberwolves.

1/30 St. Thomas women 76 Macalester 75 (OT). The Tommies avenge an earlier loss to the Lady Scots, whom they knock into 4th place in the MIAC race. MVM: Rachel Booth, St. Thomas 24/9 rebounds/7 blocks. MVC: Matt Marganthaler, Minnesota State Mankato men.

1/29 Hopkins boys 83 Robbinsdale Cooper 78. #2AAAA) over #4AAAA. MVM: Joe Coleman, Hopkins 33. MVC: Paul Fessler, Concordia (St. Paul) women.

1/28 DeLaSalle girls 71 Benilde-St. Margaret's 65. The 17-0, #1AAA Islanders keep rolling for new coach Faith Patterson. MVM: Julia Dysthe, White Bear Lake 26. MVC: Faith Patterson, DeLaSalle.

1/27 St. Mary's men 78 Gustavus 75. The Gusties lose for the 3rd time in 5 games since their big win over St. Thomas. MVM: Will Wright, St. Mary's 18. MVC: Todd Landrum, St. Mary's.

1/26 Barnum girls 69 Braham 66. Blake Hoffarber, Minnesota 19/7 rebounds/4 steals, including 11 points inside of 5:00.Tim Gleason, Maple Grove girls.

1/25 Minnesota Transitions 81 Mpls. Roosevelt 51. Kevin Noreen, Transitions 39. Noreen unofficially breaks Cody Schilling's boys' career high school record. David Mielke, St. Croix Lutheran girls. (NOTE: Morris Area boys [13-0. #2AA] at New London-Spicer [15-1, #1AA], ppd. weather)

1/24 New Orleans Saints 31 Minnesota Vikings 28 (OT). Fumbles, fumbles, fumbles. Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin (formerly Benilde-St. Margaret's) 20/6 assists/3 steals, with 18 of his 20 points coming after 2:00 of the second half. Brad Childress, Vikings.

1/23 Augustana men 83 Minnesota State-Mankato 76, and Mary women 67 Concordia (St. Paul) 66. Both of the NSIC's first-place teams lost out in the Dakotas to the heroics of Augies' Cody Schilling and Mary's Shaunna Knife. Ann Baltzer, Macalester 24. Ellen Thompson, Macalester women.

1/22 Edina girls 65 Minnetonka 59 and Lakeville North girls 60 Burnsville 52. #1 and #2AAAA remain unbeaten but in 2 of their closest games yet. Burnsville held Rachel Banham to 1 point and led by 2 at the half. Cassie Rochel, Lakeville North 24. Clayton Hargrove, Eden Prairie girls.

1/21 Rocori boys 55 at St. Cloud Tech 53. Tech loses it 2nd straight since being rated #1AAAA. Brett Ervin, Eden Prairie 19. David Flom, Eden Prairie.

1/20 Carleton men 60 Gustavus 55. The Gusties have lost twice since busting up St. Thomas' big win streak. Mary Wilkowski, Hamline 30/7 rebounds/3 steals. Jessica Rahman, Concordia (Moorhead) women.

1/19 Sauk Centre girls 63 New London-Spicer 58. #1AA Sauk is 50-4 over the past 2-and-a-half years with all 4 losses to #2 NLS. Mainstreeters guard Kali Peschel led all scorers with 22. Aubrey Davis, Bloomington Kennedy 25. Scott Bergman, Sauk Centre.

1/18 Gustavus women 66 St. Ben' s 63. The Bennies fell behind 13-2 and 41-23 at the half, then got within 3 at 2:48 and 1 at 0:05 but it was too late. First place Gustavus is 8-1 in the MIAC, while St. Ben's has lost 3 straight after an 8-0 start. Jonny Flynn, Timberwolves 29 assists. Madeline "Mickey" Haller, Gustavus.

1/17 Minnesota Vikings 34 Dallas Cowboys 3. Drew Pearson, that last one was for you. No hoops worth talkin' about. Brett Favre and Brad Childress, Vikings.

1/16 St. Thomas men 70 St. John's 69 (OT) and St. Thomas women 66 St. Benedict's 65. The luck of the Irish. Sarina Baker, DeLaSalle 38. Matt Marganthaler, Minnesota State-Mankato.

1/15 Minnesota State Mankato women 79 Concordia (St. Paul) 76. Defending national champs (now 5-3) knock off previously unbeaten (in the NSIC) Concordia. Jacob Thomas, Columbia Heights 47. Matt Nilsen, Edina girls.

1/14 Minnesota women 74 Purdue 47. But for a Penn State win at Iowa, the Gophers would have 2nd place in the Big Ten all to themselves. Kiara Buford, Minnesota 18/4 assists/4 steals. Pam Borton, Minnesota.

1/13 Gustavus men 56 St. Thomas 51. In the battle of MIAC unbeatens, the Gusties scored the game's last 7 points to bust the Tommies brand new record consecutive win streak. Seth Anderson, Gustavus 17, 8 of them inside of 6:00. Mark Hanson, Gustavus.

1/12 Lakeville North girls 58 Eastview 43. The Panthers' big two, Cassie Rochel and Rachel Banham, led the way with 17 and 16 points. Lindsay Whalen, Minnesota Lynx. Roger Griffith, Lynx Executive VP.

1/11 St. Thomas men 77 St. Mary's 68. The Tommies won a record 32nd straight MIAC victory. Tyler Nicolai, St. Thomas 16/5 assists/3 steals. Steve Fritz, St. Thomas.

1/10 Illinois women 64 Minnesota 62. The Gophers blew 2nd half leads of 41-26 and 50-40, turning the ball over on 7 of their final 21 possessions. There were 26 turnovers in all, including an eye-popping 12 from their posts. Jenna Smith, Illinois (formerly Bloomington Kennedy) 26/11 rebounds. No coach's award today.

1/9 Minnesota men 73 Ohio State 62. The Gophers made 11-of-21 FG and out-scored the Buckeyes 41-29 in the second half. Blake Hoffarber, Gopher men 27. Tubby Smith, Minnesota men.

1/8 Mpls. North boys 66 Hopkins 63. The #1AAAA Royals go down for the second time in as many weeks. C. J. Erickson 3/2 blocks and Ben Fisher 5/1 assist inside of 2:00, Winona State men. Vern Simmons, St. Paul Johnson boys.

1/7 Minnesota women 73 Northwestern 65. The Gophers came from way back (37-21) again, out-scoring Northwestern 52-28 the rest of the way. Kiara Buford, Minnesota 22. Brian Cosgriff, Hopkins girls.

1/6 Macalester women 75 at Concordia (Moorhead) 57. The Scots continued their improbable run as post Ann Baltzer made 8-for-8 FG, and the Scots shot 67 percent in the 2nd half. Ann Baltzer, Mac 18. Mike Durbin, St. Ben's.

1/5 Purdue men 79 Minnesota 60. The Gophers wasted 19 offensive rebounds, shooting 31 percent from the field. Rachel Banham, Lakeville North girls 28. Andy Berkvam, Lakeville North girls.

1/4 Macalester women 73 at Gustavus Adolphus 61. Macalester, whose program was suspended in 2005 due to a lack of healthy players, continued its resurgence and moved into 2nd place in the MIAC. Jessica Rene, Mac 18. Ellen Thompson, Mac.

1/3 Minnesota women 72 Iowa 69 (OT). The Gophers came back from 10 points down in the 1st, and 5 points down with 5:00 to go. Kiara Buford, Minnesota 21/10 rebounds/4 steals. Mike Roysland, Minnesota-Crookston women.

1/2 Minnesota-Crookston women 88 Minnesota State Mankato 74. UMC, which as recently as 2007 suffered a winless 0-27 season, shocked the defending national champs. Blake Hoffarber, Minnesota Gopher men 24. Tubby Smith, Minnesota men.

1/1 Orlando 106 at Minnesota Timberwolves 94. The Wolves opened 2010 with a 3rd straight defeat. Jonny Flynn, Wolves 23/4 assists. No coach's award.