Jennifer Jones leads Manitoba to a blowout win

MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones strengthened her grip on second place at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Thursday with a 10-3 rout of Prince Edward Island’s Suzanne Birt.

The Olympic champion jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and added three more points in the fourth end to put the game out of reach.

Jones improved to 8-1 and trails only Val Sweeting of Alberta in the round-robin standings. Sweeting (8-0) will take on defending champion Rachel Homan (6-2) in the feature afternoon matchup at Mosaic Place.

Northern Ontario’s Tracy Horgan (6-3) moved into sole possession of fourth place with a 9-7 win over Ontario’s Julie Hastings.

In the other early games, Quebec’s Lauren Mann topped Nova Scotia’s Mary-Anne Arsenault 8-7 while Heather Strong of Newfoundland and Labrador outscored B.C.’s Patti Knezevic 10-7.

Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton was alone in fifth place at 5-3 after 14 draws. Ontario and Prince Edward Island were clinging to faint playoff hopes after falling to 4-5.

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Arsenault’s team started slow before tying the game with a two-point ninth end. Mann scored one in the 10th for the victory.

The result, which came a day after upset wins over both Jones and Homan, eliminated Arsenault (4-6) from playoff contention.

“It’s just a game of inches, a few here and a few there, and it could be a completely different story,” said Nova Scotia lead Jennifer Baxter.

The top four teams at the end of round-robin play Friday morning will make the playoffs.

Strong was tied with Arsenault at 4-6, ahead of New Brunswick’s Sylvie Robichaud at 2-6. Quebec improved to 2-8 and B.C. fell to 1-9.

The battle to stay out of the basement has intensified this year. For the first time, the province that finishes last in the round-robin standings will fall into the qualification round at the 2016 Scotties in Grande Prairie, Alta.

The team will be joined by rinks from the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, who were eliminated in this year’s qualifier. Nunavut could also participate if it decides to enter a team next year.

Northern Ontario won this year’s qualifier to claim the last spot in the 12-team field.

The one-versus-two Page Playoff game is scheduled for Friday night and the medal games are scheduled for Sunday. The winner of the Scotties will represent Canada at the March 14-22 world women’s curling championship in Sapporo, Japan.