VICTORIA, February 23, 2009 (CCA) — Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton broke out of her slump at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in record fashion Monday morning at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Saskatchewan, which was 0-3 over the opening weekend of the Canadian women’s curling championship, stole the winning point in the 10th end for a 12-11 triumph over Prince Edward Island’s Rebecca Jean MacPhee.
The 23-point total for the two teams tied the Hearts record for highest combined score, set in 1988 at Fredericton, N.B., when Quebec’s Francine Poisson defeated Jacki Rintoul of Manitoba 14-9 in a round-robin game.
Saskatchewan led 9-6 through five ends, scoring two in the first end, three in the third and four in the fifth. But the Islanders fought back with a deuce in the sixth and three in the eighth.
In the 10th, P.E.I. last-rock thrower Robyn MacPhee couldn’t make her draw to the four-foot, giving the stolen win to Lawton, third Marliese Kasner, second Sherri Singler and lead Lana Vey.
“It was quite the game, that’s for sure,” said Lawton. “After the fifth end, we said that we don’t think we’ve ever had a game where it’s 9-6 after five ends; that’s usually the score after 10. It’s not a normal Saskatchewan game. The good thing is that we’re scoring points. Now we just have to try to keep down their points. But it’s a good win and we’re going to try to use that momentum and carry on. I don’t think we tried to do anything different, but it just ended up working out quite a bit differently.”
P.E.I. dropped to 2-2 with the loss
Meanwhile, B.C.’s Marla Mallett continued her hot early pace, beating Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche 7-6 to improve to 4-0; Quebec dropped to 3-1.
“Another great game,” said Mallett, who racked deuces in the second, fifth and seventh ends en route to victory. “I think you always hope that you’re going to get on a roll like this. Expect? Not really. I mean, you have to come out and bring your ‘A’ game to the ice every time. Our team is playing very well together as a unit. We have four people going out there, and of course there are extra distractions, extra pressure. So to be able to go out and stay together and play together is very important.”
Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories/Yukon picked up her first win, stealing the winning point in the 11th end when Newfoundland/Labrador skip Heather Strong was wide on a last-rock takeout attempt, giving the Territories a 9-8 win. Galusha forced the extra by drawing the four-foot for a 10th-end deuce.
Also, New Brunswick’s Andrea Kelly evened out her record at 2-2 by winning a defensive struggle, 5-3 over Krista McCarville of Ontario. Neither team could muster more than single points, but New Brunswick managed to steal a pair of them — in the fourth and 10th ends — to hand Ontario its second loss in four outings.
Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones (3-0), Alberta’s Cheryl Bernard (2-1), Nova Scotia’s Nancy McConnery (1-2) and Manitoba’s Barb Spencer (0-3) all had byes in the morning draw.
Play at the Scotties continues on Monday, with draws scheduled for 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Atlantic; all draws will be televised live by TSN.