In Friday afternoon’s final round-robin draw, Fowler’s rink knocked off the top-ranked and previously undefeated Colleen Pinkney rink from Nova Scotia 8-4 while Quebec lost 7-6 to British Columbia’s Karen Lepine. That left Manitoba and Quebec tied for third place at 7-4 (won-lost).
The tiebreaker is scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m., and the winner will meet Alberta’s Deb Santos in the semifinal later in the day. Alberta defeated Northern Ontario’s Vicky Barrett to finish in second place at 8-3.
Nova Scotia (10-1) had already clinched first place and a bye to Sunday’s final.
Three matches, all ongoing at the same time, had dire consequences on one another. With Alberta and Quebec sitting at a 7-3 heading in, and Northern Ontario and Manitoba at 6-4, the possibility existed for a four-way tie for the two semifinal berths.
However, Alberta’s win eliminated Northern Ontario from playoff contention.
Minutes later, a Manitoba win opened the door for British Columbia to play spoiler.
See complete coverage in Saturday’s Journal Pioneer.
