(by Jason Simmonds).
SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. – Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton defeated Winnipeg’s Cathy Overton-Clapham 7-3 in the women’s final of the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling Sun Life Financial Players’ Championship in Summerside on Saturday afternoon.

Jason Simmonds/Journal Pioneer photo

Skip Stefanie Lawton high-fives second stone Sherri Singler after defeating Cathy Overton-Clapham 7-3 in the women’s final of the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling Sun Life Financial Players’ Championship in Summerside on Saturday afternoon. Also celebrating are third stone Sherry Anderson, left, and lead Marliese Kasner.

“It was a great game,” assessed Lawton following the awards presentations. “We started off playing well, and there were lots of great shots being made. There were lots of really good freezes by both teams.”

The turning point came in the sixth end, when Lawton was able to count three with a hit-and-stick in the four-foot for a 5-3 lead. She then stole a deuce in the seventh end, and that’s when Overton-Clapham decided to shake hands.

Semifinals

In Saturday morning’s semifinals, Lawton doubled Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones 6-3 while Overton-Clapham drew to the four-foot for a 7-6 extra-end win over Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont.

Lawton and her rink of third stone Sherry Anderson, second stone Sherri Singler and lead Marliese Kasner were presented with the Players’ Championship trophy and a cheque for $28,000 – $18,000 for the champions and $2,000 for each of their five round-robin wins.

Win Capital One Cup

Overton-Clapham and her team of third stone Jenna Loder, second stone Ashley Howard and lead Breanne Meakin did not go home empty-handed. They clinched the Capital One Cup for the team with the most points in the four–event Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series. Overton Clapham, who was unquestionably the fan favourite at EastLink Arena all week, also took home a $50,000 cheque.

See complete story in Monday’s Journal-Pioneer.