It was another disappointing end to the week for Jen Rusnell and her team at the 2012 B.C. Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
After a 4-1 start to her week Rusnell was posed to make a run at the North Shore Winter Club in North Vancouver as she came up against stiffer competition. But after finishing the round-robin portion of the event with one win and three losses the Prince George skip finished in a four-way tie for fourth place at 5-4.
After surviving her first tiebreaker Friday with an 8-3 win over Nicole Backe's Royal City Curling Club Rusnell faced former Olympian Kelley Law, who slipped past Marilou Richter 7-6 in an extra end in the other early tiebreaker.
In a defensive game with five blank ends Law earned the first deuce when she took a 3-2 lead in the seventh end. Rusnell blanked the next two ends and went into the 10th with down one, but with hammer - many curlers' dream situation. But a win wasn't on the docket for Rusnell as she gave up a steal of three and Law moved on to play against Roselyn Craig (6-3) in the 3-4 page-playoff game with a 6-2 win.
It was the third trip to the B.C. Scotties for the Rusnell Prince George Curling Club team with third Kristen Fewster, second Blaine Richards and lead Amber Cheveldave. Rick Fewster coaches the team. Two years ago, Rusnell qualified for the playoffs but lost in the 3-4 page playoff game. Last year, the Rusnell rink had a tough week and were out of contention early.
In the 3-4 game Saturday morning, Law continued ran her win streak to four games with a 7-6 win over Craig. The New Westminister skip trailed 3-1 early but picked up three in the fourth end to take a 4-3 lead and the Law rink were on their way to a meeting with Kelowna's Kelly Scott in the semifinal.
Scott wrapped up the round-robin on top of the standings with a 7-2 record, but fell 10-5 in the 1-2 page-playoff game to Royal City's Marla Mallet (6-3) in an extra end Friday. But Scott assured herself of a rematch after beating Law 9-7 after nine ends in Saturday's semifinal.
Scott emerged with a 6-5 victory in Sunday's final. After Mallett scored a deuce in the eighth end to tie the game at 5-5, the Kelowna skip blanked the ninth to retain hammer in the 10th. The win means Scott will wear Team B.C. colours at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian Women's Curling Championship in Red Deer, Alta. from Feb. 18 to 26.
Other teams qualified for the event include the defending champion team from Saskatchewan skipped by Amber Holland, wearing the Team Canada crest; Team Alberta's Heather Nedohin; Team Manitoba's Jennifer Jones; Team New Bruswick's Andrea Kelly; Team Newfoundland and Labrador's Team Heather Strong; Team Northwest Territories/Yukon's Kerry Galusha; Team Nova Scotia's Heather Smith-Dacey; Team Ontario's Tracy Horgan; Team Prince Edward Island's Kim Dolan; Team Quebec's Marie-France Larouche; and Team Saskatchewan's Michelle Englot.
