MOOSE JAW, Sask. -- For seven ends, Krista McCarville outcurled Team Ontario counterpart Rachel Homan.
It's those final three ends she'd like back.
Homan scored three with hammer in the ninth on a double-raise takeout on her final stone to jump in front 7-5, then stole two more against a desperate Northern Ontario squad to advace out of the 3-4 Page Playoff at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and into Sunday's semifinal against the loser of the 1-2 Page Playoff between Jennifer Jones and Manitoba's Kerri Einarson.
McCarville was in front most of the match.
After forcing Homan, who she'd never beaten in five previous Scotteis meetings, to one in the second, McCarville took one in the third and stole one in the fourth to jump in front 2-1.
Homan tied things up in the fifth, but McCarville retook the lead in the sixth with deuce, the first of the match. Unfortunately for Team Northern Ontario, Homan stormed back with two of her own in the seventh, then forced McCarville to take a single in the eighth, setting up the decisive ninth.
McCarville's team, which includes lead Jen Gates, second Ashley Sippala and third Kendra Lilly, will have to win its way into next year's Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which will be played at Thunder Bay's Fort William Gardens. A win at this year's Scotties would have earned them an automatic berth.
It was McCarville's eighth trip to the national women's curling championship.
