Kerry Galusha put on a phenomenal demonstration of shotmaking at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts last night, and she brought down the best. The Yukon/Territories skip, with a perfect hit and roll on her final stone, stole a 10-8
victory over Jennifer Jones and Team Canada at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
"I've never beaten Team Canada, ever. It feels so good," said Galusha, who has a record of two wins and four losses (three of them by one point). The skip, who's 20 weeks pregnant, made numerous clutch shots throughout the game. "I had draw weight. I seem to have had it all week."
It was the second loss of the day for the defending champions, who also lost to Stefanie Lawton of Saskatchewan on a steal.
Jones is tied with Quebec's Marie-France Larouche in second place at 5-2, while Marla Mallett of B.C. leads the field at 6-1, with six draws to come. At 4-3 are Saskatchewan, Cheryl Bernard of Alberta, and P.E.I.'s Rebecca Jean MacPhee, while Ontario's Krista McCarville, New Brunswick's Andrea Kelly, and Heather Strong of Newfoundland/Labrador are still in the 12-team mix at 3-4.
With a few breaks, Strong said her team jumped off one boat and onto another yesterday. Newfoundland began the day's action carrying a near-fatal four losses, but got onboard with an 8-6
victory over Alberta, and a 9-3 win over P.E.I. .
"We actually felt we deserved a little better fate in the first four matches," Strong said about the losses. "We played pretty solid. We needed to make a few more timely shots, and get a few more breaks."
Mallett, on the other hand, had a good day from start to finish. Mallett sailed 12-4 past Manitoba's Barb Spencer, then scored two in the 10th end to edge New Brunswick's Andrea Kelly 7-5.
"We've been able to
figure out the ice, and able to enjoy the ice," B.C. third Grace MacInnes said. "The key is the ice, and it's been really good. You just have to believe it will curl.
"Our mantra is 'Gotta believe.'"
The saying would hold true for Saskatchewan and Quebec, as well. Lawton and her team from Saskatoon have racked up four straight wins, while Marie-France Larouche stunned Ontario 10-8, in a game McCarville had controlled for nine ends. Larouche scored three in the 10th to tie, and stole a deuce and the win in the extra end. Later Tuesday, Quebec won by a 7-5 margin over the Nova Scotia's Nancy McConnery (1-6), who started the day losing 9-6 to McCarville.
For Lawton, the steal was on against Team Canada for a 7-6 morning victory, and the Prairie women continued to roll by defeating NWT/Y 10-6.
"We wanted to play like we could play. We just had to figure out how to get where we wanted to go," said Lawton.
In other late games, Manitoba (2-5) and New Brunswick were each trying not to post a dreaded fifth loss. Manitoba got the short straw, when Kelly scored a five-ender in the ninth to win 10-7, while Bernard lost 7-6 to P.E.I.
IN THE HOUSE
- TODAY
Draw 12, 8:30 a.m.
New Brunswick vs. Alberta
Yukon/NWT vs. Nova Scotia
Quebec vs. Canada
P.E.I. vs. Manitoba
Draw 13, 1 p.m.
Manitoba vs. Ontario
Canada vs. Newfoundland
Nova Scotia vs. B.C.
Alberta vs. Saskatchewan
Draw 14, 7 p.m.
B.C. vs. Yukon/NWT
Saskatchewan vs. New Brunswick
Ontario vs. P.E.I.
Newfoundland vs. Quebec
