MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Things are getting down to the nitty gritty at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts national women’s curling championship, and there are some familiar faces battling it out for spots in the gold medal final.
Team Canada’s Kerri Einarson and Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes each prevailed in their respective playoff games on Friday afternoon and as a result will now do battle in the Page Playoff 1-2 game on Saturday night.
The Page 3-4 game will see Nova Scotia’s Christina Black take on Alberta’s Selena Sturmay on Saturday afternoon, with the winner there advancing to Sunday’s semifinal.
Einarson and her rink of third Val Sweeting, second Brianne Harris and lead Karlee Burgess booked their spot in the 1-2 game thanks to an 8-5 win over Manitoba’s Beth Peterson, fourth Kelsey Calvert, second Katherine Remillard and lead Melissa Gordon-Kurz.
Einarson had advanced to the contest thanks to her 7-1 record in Pool A, while Peterson had gone 8-0 in Pool B.
Things were close in the early going of their contest, with Einarson taking a 4-2 lead into the fifth end break before Peterson tied things up with a deuce in the seventh. Einarson replied with a pair of her own the next end, and after getting the force in nine, would tack on two more in the 10th to secure the win.
Lawes and her rink of third Selena Njegovan, second Laura Walker and lead Kristin Gordon found themselves in a battle with Black, third Jillian Brothers, second Marlee Power and lead Karlee Everist in their 1-2 playoff, eventually taking an 8-6 win.
Lawes had a perfect 8-0 record in Pool A to book her spot, while Black had gone 6-2 in Pool B.
Black picked up a pair of deuces through the first four ends and led 4-3 at the break, with Lawes picking up a pair in the sixth and stealing another in the seventh for a 6-4 edge. Black came right back and tied things up with two in the eighth, and Lawes would put the hammer to good use by blanking the ninth before scoring a pair in the 10th for the win.
Black then dropped down to face Taylour Stevens and her fellow Nova Scotia rink in the Page 3-4 playoff, and things were over rather quickly — Black scored four in the first end and led 9-2 at the break before cruising to an 11-6 win.
The other 3-4 playoff saw Sturmay, third Danielle Schmiemann, second Dezaray Hawes and lead Paige Papley give up an opening deuce to Peterson before scoring a pair in the second and putting up back-to-back steals of three in the third and fourth for an 8-2 lead. Another steal of one made 9-2 at the break, and the teams would exchange single points from there before shaking hands after eight.
Sturmay and Black will now play at 12 p.m. on Saturday, with the winner advancing to the semifinal against the loser of Einarson and Lawes, with their Page 1-2 game taking place at 6 p.m.
The semifinal takes place at 12 p.m. on Sunday, followed by the gold medal game at 6 p.m.
You can catch all the playoff action on TSN and follow along with all the scores at www.curling.ca.
