Allison MacInnes of Kamloops remained perfect after five draws yesterday at the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Scotties women's curling championship in Parksville.
MacInnes, the defending champion, ran her record to 5-0 with a hard-fought 5-4 victory over Marla Mallett of Vancouver. MacInnes had a 5-2 lead after seven ends before Mallett came back with single points in the next two ends. MacInnes is backed by Sandra Jenkins, Karla Sparks and Amanda Brennan.
Jodi Maskiewich of Royal City and Kristen Recksiedler of Richmond are tied for second spot with 4-1 marks while Georgina Wheatcroft of Cloverdale is fourth at 3-2.
Maskiewich scored a five-ender en route to a 9-7 win over Brittany Palmer of Trail while Recksiedler, the 2004 ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ junior champion, tallied a six-point end in the 12-5 decision over Tracey Jones of Prince George.
Wheatcroft, with the support of Steph Jackson of Victoria, Sarah Wark and Kristen Windsor, stole six points in the 7-5 victory over Brenda Garvey of Kamloops.
Mallett has a 2-3 record while Garvey and Jones are both 1-4. Palmer remains winless in five starts.
In the sixth draw, which was in progress at press time, it was Jones vs. MacInnes, Garvey vs. Palmer, Mallett vs. Recksiedler and Wheatcroft vs. Maskiewich.
EXTRA ENDS: The round-robin winner advances directly to Sunday's 2:30 p.m. final (on Shaw TV). The second- and third-place teams meet in tonight's 7:30 semifinal unless there are tiebreakers to decide the playoff teams.
The ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ champion will join Canadian and world champion Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Feb. 21-March 1 at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. The Jones team has a bye into the Canadian Scotties as the defending champion.
