SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Krista McCarville feels her team is right where it deserves to be —atop the standings at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The Ontario skip improved to 6-1 and took sole possession of first place after Draw 11 with a 9-3 victory over P.E.I.’s Kathy O’Rourke on Tuesday night.
O’Rourke sits in a second-place tie with Canada’s Jennifer Jones at 5-2.
“It feels good,” said McCarville. “It feels really good. We’ve been playing well and I think we deserve it.”
After Ontario jumped out to a 3-0 lead through three ends, P.E.I. got one back in the fourth, but O’Rourke’s rink would get no closer.
“I’m disappointed that the game wasn’t a better game,” said the P.E.I. skip. “Erin (Carmody) was struggling with draw weight and it’s hard out there when you can’t get the draws where you want them to be. She just didn’t have the feel tonight for it.”
O’Rourke credited McCarville with taking advantage of her chances and nullifying any of P.E.I.’s progress.
“(Ontario is) playing phenomenal,” said O’Rourke. “Any time we did have anything set up, (McCarville) either came through a hole or made a double. She played just like we knew she was going to play.
“We really had to place our rocks in exactly the right places or we were going to be in trouble with her.”
After a forgetful performance on Monday that saw it drop a pair of games, Canada picked up a pair of wins on Tuesday. To open the day, Jones defeated Alberta’s Valerie Sweeting 9-7 in the morning draw and proceeded to pick up a 10-7 victory over Kelly Scott of B.C.
“We played a little bit better,” said Jones. “We’re still not as good as we would like to be but I thought we had a good day today. It was a tough day for us. We played some good teams.”
Eliminating mistakes is something Jones is hoping to improve on moving forward.
“We definitely played better today,” said Jones. “We picked it up and made some big shots but missed a couple of shots that we’d like to have back. We’ve got to eliminate the steals and I think if we do that we have a good shot (to be successful).”
Other evening draw action saw Quebec’s Eve Belisle defeat Sharon Cormier’s Northwest Territories/Yukon rink 6-5.
Meanwhile, Andrea Kelly’s New Brunswick foursome topped Amber Holland of Saskatchewan 8-7 after scoring once in the tenth end.
Saskatchewan opened the game by scoring three in the opening frame and held a 6-1 lead in the fifth end.
Finally, Nancy McConnery’s Nova Scotia rink picked up its first victory of the tournament, beating Shelley Nichols of Newfoundland and Labrador 7-6.
B.C., Quebec and Manitoba sit at 4-3 after Draw 11, followed by New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Alberta, which all stand at 3-4.
Newfoundland and Northwest Territories/Yukon are 2-5, with Nova Scotia at 1-6.
The Scotties continue on Wednesday.