Skylar Ackerman is in the hunt at the Viterra Scotties women’s provincial curling championship.
Ackerman and her Saskatoon Nutana rink of third Ashley Thevenot, second Taylor Stremick and lead Kaylin Skinner currently sit at 3-1 and in first place in Pool A after splitting their two most recent games.
Ackerman picked up a 9-5 win over Regina Highland’s Jana Tisdale on Thursday afternoon before falling 10-5 to former provincial champion Robyn Silvernagle in the early draw Friday.
The Moose Jaw skip trailed 5-3 through six ends against Tisdale but went on a roll from there, tying the game in the seventh and then stealing one in the eighth and three in the ninth to secure the win.
A tough run in the middle of the game was the difference against Silvernagle, as the 2020 Scotties champ broke open a 2-2 tie with six points from the fourth to sixth ends and the two teams would shake hands after eight.
Ackerman closes out her round robin during the 3 p.m. draw against Saskatoon Nutana’s Jessica Mitchell.
Penny Barker and her Moose Jaw Curling Centre rink had a golden opportunity to also take over first place in their pool, but a tough loss to Martensville’s Nancy Martin saw them drop to 2-2.
Barker, third Christie Gamble, second Jenna Enge and lead Danielle Sicinski picked up points in six of seven ends on their way to a 9-2 over Moose Jaw’s Sheilee Orstead on Thursday night but gave up steals in the final two ends to fall 7-6 to Martin Friday morning.
Barker led 5-1 through six against Martin, but deuces in the seventh and ninth would get Martin back within one, followed by a steal in the 10th sending things to an extra end. There, Barker would have a draw full four-foot for the win, but would come up just light.
Martin improved to 4-0 to lead Pool A, Barker sits alone in second.
Barker takes on Regina Highland’s Brooklyn Stevenson at 3 p.m. to close out her preliminary round.
Orsted, third Candace Newkirk, second Shalon Fleming and lead Jasmine Kerr hadn’t had much luck until Friday morning when they took a 7-6 win over former Moose Jaw competitor Amber Holland.
After dropping a close game to Martin in their opener, Orsted fell 10-4 to Saskatoon Nutana’s Sherry Anderson before losing to Barker. They’ll wrap up their Scotties appearance during the 7:30 p.m. draw Friday against Stevenson.
Holland and her Kronau-based rink of third Kim Schneider, second Jill Springer and lead Deb Lozinski are 1-2 after falling 9-5 to Martin on Thursday afternoon. They’ll need a pair of wins and some help to have a shot at a playoff spot, as they face Anderson Friday afternoon and Stevenson Saturday morning.
The top two teams after tiebreakers advance to the Page Playoffs, with the semifinals Saturday evening and final Sunday afternoon.
You can catch all the scores at www.sasskcurl.ca and each draw is broadcast on the CurlSask page on Youtube.
