It’ll be a battle for top spot on Tuesday night at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Sault Ste. Marie.
Thunder Bay’s Krista McCarville ensured the added importance of the game, against P.E.I.’s Kathy O’Rourke, downing a pesky squad from Newfoundland 8-5 to improve to 5-1 at the national women’s curling championship.
McCarville scored a rare four points in the third end of her match against Shelley Nichols (2-4), erasing an early 1-0 Newfoundland lead and setting the stage for the win.
McCarville stole two in the fourth to go up 6-1 and coasted from there, surrendering a pair in the fifth, but rebounding with a single in six and a steal of one in seven to take an 8-3 lead.
Nichols (2-4) pegged single points in the eighth and ninth, but was unable to put the multiple-point ends together that she needed to get back in contention.
McCarville takes on O’Rourke (5-1) at 7:30 p.m.
In other afternoon draw action, Team Canada skip Jennifer Jones got back on track after losing both her Monday matches, defeating B.C.’s Kelly Scott 10-7. Scott fell to 4-3 with the loss, while Jones improved to 5-2.
Manitoba’s Jill Thurston (4-3) kept her playoff dreams alive, dropping Alberta’s Nancy Sweeting (3-4) 7-4, while Saskatchewan’s Amber Holland downed Quebec’s Eve Belisle 8-6. Belisle fell to 3-3.