Home | Sports | Manitoba's Jones closes in on Scotties playoff berth

Manitoba's Jones closes in on Scotties playoff berth

By Staff 22/02/2012 14:23:00

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Manitoba's Jennifer Jones was alone in first place at the Canadian women's curling championship after an 8-6 win in an extra end Wednesday over B.C.'s Kelly Scott.

Jones, a four-time national champion, improved to 6-2 with two draws remaining in the day.

"We just really want to get into the playoffs and we need to win a couple more games to do that," Jones said.

The top four teams at the conclusion of the round robin Thursday advance to playoffs. Ties for fourth are solved by tiebreaker games.B.C. dropped into a pack at 5-3 alongside defending champion Amber Holland, New Brunswick's Rebecca Atkinson and Alberta's Heather Nedohin.

B.C. played without Sasha Carter for a third game in the tournament. Carter, who throws third stones for Scott, is ill with a stomach ailment that has made the rounds at Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Carter is also four months pregnant.

"She's gone to the hospital for an IV now," Scott said. "She won't play the next game. I thought that sounded really bad, going to the hospital, but the girls say it's like an instant cure, just getting fluids in your body.

"Maybe that will help her come around quick. She was still sick last night though."

Alternate Sherry Fraser threw third stones in Carter's absence. Scott considered keeping Fraser in the lineup beyond Wednesday.

"I'm starting to wonder if we need to look at the foursome that was out there today and settle in on that," Scott said. "My thinking was we do need to solidify a few things."

Holland lost 7-6 in an extra end to Nova Scotia's Heather Smith-Dacey. Second Tammy Schneider left the game early, also with sickness, and was replaced by alternate Jolene Campbell. Schneider missed almost two games earlier in the tournament with a pulled muscle in her knee.

In other games, New Brunswick edged Ontario's Tracy Horgan 6-5 and Alberta got by Saskatchewan's Michelle Englot 9-8.

Englot was 4-4 after the loss. Quebec's Marie-France Larouche was 4-3. Ontario and Nova Scotia were 3-5. Heather Strong of Newfoundland and Labrador, Kim Dolan of Prince Edward Island and Kerry Galusha of Yukon/Northwest Territories were 2-5.

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