(by Jean Mills)
Jennifer Jones locked up her trip to the 2013 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Page playoff 1-2 game against Ontario’s Rachel Homan on Friday afternoon with a win – her 100th win at the event – over New Brunswick’s Andrea Crawford.
But she had to work for it. Jones was held to a single in the first, then stole two ends for an early 5-0 lead. By the sixth, Manitoba was leading 7-1, but Crawford and her team of Rebecca Atkinson, Danielle Parsons and Jodie deSolla started to put the pressure on, scoring two in the seventh, and then stealing singles in the next three ends. But it wasn’t enough, and Jones secured the 7-6 win, her 100th win at the event.
“I didn’t know (it was the 100th) until we were watching the TV earlier this morning,” said Jones. “It’s pretty cool. I pinched myself after the first time. You never think you’re going to get back. And to have it be our tenth time, and a hundred wins, it’s pretty special.”
Jones remains in first place after Draw 16, and right behind is Ontario’s Rachel Homan, who cruised to a 10-2 victory over Suzanne Birt and her Prince Edward Island foursome out of the Charlottetown Curling Complex. Homan started the game with hammer, scoring three, then stole two for an early 5-0 lead. Birt was not able to put pressure on the young Ontario foursome, shaking after seven ends.
Homan now sits at 9-1 and will meet Jones in the Page 1-2 playoff.
Saskatchewan’s Jill Shumay, coming off a tough loss to B.C. on Thursday night, won 8-7 in a close, steal-filled game against Newfoundland and Labrador’s Stacie Devereaux.
“We had our ups and downs that game but we managed to pull it off,” said Shumay, who needs another win to secure at least a spot in the tie-breaker. “I had some pretty bad misses, so that was part of the difference in the game.”
“We’re still going, and we just need some help tonight,” she said.
In the only other game, Kerry Galusha of Northwest Territories/Yukon scored a crowd-pleasing win over Team Canada, stealing two in the final end to win 10-8.
“Finally the bleeding stops,” said a happy Galusha about earning a second win in what has been a disappointing week. “For some reason we always play really well against Team Canada. We just don’t give up, and we left it all on the ice. We knew it was our last game, and we just wanted to play well. And we did. It feels so good.”
Manitoba (10-0) and Ontario (9-1) will meet in the Page 1-2 playoff game, but the rest of the playoff match-ups – including possible tie-breakers – will be decided after the last games on Friday night.
The final draw of the Scotties takes place Friday night at 8:30 p.m. (AST). All draws are being broadcast by TSN/RDS, the official broadcast partner of the Season of Champions.
Live scoring, statistics and updated standings are available at http://www.curling.ca/championships/scotties/draw-schedule/scores-and-standings/