Team Saskatchewan moves to 3-2 at Scotties after Monday split

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Team Saskatchewan is right in the mix to earn a playoff spot at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts through four days of the national women’s curling championship.

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After opening with wins over Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville and Prince Edward Island’s Jane DiCarlo on Friday and Saturday respectively, Nancy Martin and her Saskatoon Nutana Curling Club squad suffered their first loss on Sunday against Corryn Brown and Team British Columbia.

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However on Monday, in the first of two games on the day, Team Saskatchewan — featuring skip Martin, third Chaelynn Stewart, second Kadriana Lott, lead Deanna Doig, alternate Colleen Ackerman and coach Sherry Anderson — rebounded with a 7-5 win over New Brunswick’s Melissa Adams 7-5.

In that game, Team Saskatchewan got out to a 4-0 lead before New Brunswick cut the lead to 6-5 in the eighth. However, Martin and company were able to close things out to improve to 3-1.

Then just hours later, Team Saskatchewan was back on the ice for an evening battle against Rachel Homan and Team Canada, who entered action at 3-0.

And in Monday night’s game, Canada got out to a 4-2 lead through five ends before Martin scored three points in the sixth end to take the 5-4 lead.

However, Homan and company responded with three of their own in the seventh end to re-take the lead. Martin was then limited to one point in the eighth end before Homan scored a deuce in the ninth to go up 9-6 before running Martin out of rocks in the final end.

Next up for Team Saskatchewan (3-2) is a Tuesday afternoon battle against Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik, who also sits at 3-2 in the Pool A standings, meaning the game could have huge playoff implications as head-to-head matchups could determine who gets into the playoffs.

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Following Tuesday’s game, Saskatchewan takes on Nunavut’s Lisa Weagle on Wednesday morning before facing Alberta’s Selena Sturmay in the evening. Martin and company will then be spectators on the final day of the round robin on Thursday before the page playoff qualifiers begins Friday.

The page playoffs will then be held Saturday with the semifinal and final set for Sunday.

Scotties Pool A Standings

(As of Monday night; top three teams make the playoffs)

1. Canada (Homan) 4-0
2. British Columbia (Brown) 4-1
3. Alberta (Skrlik) 3-2
4. Saskatchewan (Martin) 3-2
5. Alberta (Sturmay) 2-2
6. New Brunswick (Adams) 2-2
7. Northern Ontario (McCarville) 1-4
8. Prince Edward Island (DiCarlo) 1-3
9. Nunavut (Weagle) 0-4

Team Saskatchewan schedule

• Friday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. vs. Northern Ontario (McCarville) — 10-6 win
• Saturday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. vs. P.E.I. (DiCarlo) — 8-6 win
• Sunday, Feb. 16 at 1 p.m. vs. B.C. (Brown) — 7-6 loss
• Monday, Feb. 17 at 8 a.m. vs. New Brunswick (Adams) — 7-5 win
• Monday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. vs. Canada (Homan) — 9-6 loss
• Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. vs. Alberta (Skrlik)
• Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 8 a.m. vs. Nunavut (Weagle)
• Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. vs. Alberta (Sturmay)
• Friday, Feb. 21 — Playoff qualifiers
• Saturday, Feb. 22 — Page playoffs
• Sunday, Feb. 23 — Semifinal and final

tshire@postmedia.com

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