After flipping through a few pages of introduction, sa国际传媒's Marla Mallett got a read on the ice, and a bead on Quebec's Marie-France Larouche at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts last night.
Mallett and her Vancouver team of third Grace MacInnes, second Diane Gushulak, and lead Jacalyn Brown defeated Quebec 7-5 in the 1-2 Page Playoff game to earn a bye into tomorrow's final at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
"It feels great to be one win away from a national championship," Mallett said.
"It was conservative game, but that's the label on my style."
"We practised this morning.
"We worked on a few things, and I think that really helped us tonight."
Quebec drops to the semifinal, at 4 p.m. today, against the winner of the 3-4 game between Saskatchewan's Stefanie Lawton and Team sa国际传媒's Jennifer Jones at 11:30 a.m.
Mallett, strong all week, finished the round robin in first place, at 8-3, while Larouche emerged from a four-way tie for second. Saskatchewan was third, and Jones defeated P.E.I. in a tiebreaker to hang onto fourth spot.
Quebec was up-and-down during the round robin, and weren't sharp last night.
"I hope this was down, and tomorrow is up," Larouche said.
The teams went to the fifth-end break locked at 2-2, as both sides tried to get a handle on the ice.
"You have to work with the surface you have," said Mallett, who figured it out first.
Starting defensively, Mallett blanked the first end, but had to settle for a single point in the second, when a draw stopped short.
Larouche couldn't get anything substantial going either, and was forced to draw for one in the third end.
By the fourth end, the fans were getting restless, and one yelled out "booorrring" at the lack of rocks in the rings.
Mallett stuck on a blank attempt, and unfazed by the crowd, responded with pressure on Quebec.
Larouche made a draw to the four-foot against three yellow sa国际传媒 rocks to score her point in the fifth, but got into a real boondoggle in the sixth end.
Mallett had a double takeout for a possible five-ender. She missed by an inch, but still got a pivotal three to go up 5-2.
"It seemed if you swept the ice it stayed straight, and, if you didn't sweep and didn't clean, the ice curled," Larouche said. "We lost two of my draws because of that."
Bowing her head in disappointment, Larouche didn't even make the rings on a draw for two in the seventh. Another Larouche miss in the eighth, and sa国际传媒 took an insurmountable 7-3 lead.
"We're a great team, and we'll come back," Larouche said.
In the Scotties all-star selections, the first team included Saskatchewan skip Stefanie Lawton, sa国际传媒 third Cathy Overton-Clapham, sa国际传媒 second Diane Gushulak, and Saskatchewan lead Lana Vey. The second team featured Mallett, MacInnes, Saskatchewan second Sherri Singler, and Quebec lead Jo脙芦lle Sabourin.
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IN THE HOUSE
Today
Page Playoff 3 vs. 4
11:30 a.m.
Stefanie Lawton, Saskatchewan vs. Jennifer Jones, Team sa国际传媒.
Semifinal
4 p.m.
Marie-France Larouche, Quebec vs. Saskatchewan/Team sa国际传媒 winner.
Sunday's Game
Final 5 p.m.
Marla Mallett, sa国际传媒 vs. semifinal winner.
