(Photo: Andrew Klaver)
(CCA) Defending champion Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg cracked open a tight game with three in the fifth end and rolled to a 9-4 victory over Heather Smith-Dacey of Nova Scotia Thursday afternoon in a Scotties Tournament Of Hearts matchup that wasn’t fatal to either team.
Jones remained in the hunt for a second-place round-robin finish behind leader Saskatchewan, moving the Team Canada record to 7-3, while Nova Scotia slipped to 7-4 but was assured of at least a tiebreaker playoff a the completion of preliminary action tonight at 7:30 (AT).
Smith-Dacey has the night off while Jones goes against Alberta’s Shannon Kleibrink in what is essentially a playoff match. Kleibrink (6-4) cannot afford to lose. A loss for Jones will drop her into a possible five-way tie at 7-and-4 but Jones, in that case, would be awarded second place based on her team’s record against the other four teams involved.
This, of course, would depend on the outcome of two other final-round games — Ontario vs. Quebec and Saskatchewan vs. British Columbia.
Ontario’s Rachel Homan still has a shot at a second-place finish and a place with Amber Holland (9-1) of Saskatchewan in Friday night’s Page One-Two playoff. But Jones would have to lose tonight while Homan wins. Both would have to lose and B.C.’s Kelly Scott would have to defeat Saskatchewan in order to force the traffic jam of five.
In terms of ranking in case of the five-tie, Team Canada would be No. 2, Ontario No. 3, Nova Scotia No. 4, Alberta No. 5 and British Columbia No. 6.