

PENCTICTON, BC -- Manitoba's Jennifer Jones joined by provincial rival Kerri Einarson, Alberta's Casey Scheidegger and Stacie Curtis of Newfoundland and Labrador at 3-0 after draw 6 of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.



Jones, with Shannon Birchard, Jill Officer and Dawn McEwen have won in convincing fashion, just finishing off a 11-5 win over Mary-Anne Arsenault of Nova Scotia. Jones opened scoring settling for 2 on a shot for 4 in the first end, then stole 2 more in the second end as Nova Scotia came out flat Monday morning. After getting a force in the 3rd end, Jones added another deuce, then repreated the sequence again in ends 5 and 6 to take an 8-2 lead en-route to the win.



Jones earlier defeated Yukon's Chelsea Duncan 14-1 in draw 4 and 12-5 over Saskatchewan's Sherry Anderson in draw 2 to cruise to their 3-0 record. Jones, now 57-18 on the season and coming off a semifinal finish in last weekend's Meridian Canadian Open continue to show why they're the favourite to take down another Scotties title.



Chasing Jones in Pool A is Kerri Einarson, flying the Wildcard banner this week who won 8-4 over Saskatchewan to keep pace. Einarson faced a tougher match again Anderson holding control of the game, but not blowing it open until the ninth end when their pressure forced a draw against three and the steal that ultimately ended the game.



Einarson's 55-23 record put them number 2 on the Order of Merit in total wins this season and they're looking solid this week after winning a stressful do-or-die wildcard game to get into the Scotties. Wins over Sylvie Robichaud (NB) 8-6 and Arsneault 7-5 have them in great position to advance to the Championship Pool.



In other draw 6 games, Northern Ontario's Tracy Fleury defeated Yukon 8-5 and Robichaud's New Brunswick foursome stole ends 8, 10 and 11 for an 8-7 win over Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories.



Scheidegger of Alberta and Curtis of Newfoundland and Labrador meet today at 2pm PT / 5pm ET on TSN in the feature game of the two 3-0 teams in Pool B. Scheidegger's 30-21 record on the season is the result of adjusting to playing a tougher schedule this season, though with 9 wins in their last 12 games, this team is putting it all together at the right time.



Curtis with a 19-10 season record, the challenges of travelling off the island decreases their competitive opportunities but the young team from St. John's is showing continued improvement that multiple trips to the Scotties can yield. After their best ever 5-6 record at last year's Scotties, Curtis reached quarterfinals in the Royal LePage OVCA Classic near Ottawa and semifinals at the Spitfire Arms Cashspiel in Nova Scotia to prepare for their playdowns.



Wins over Robyn MacPhee of PEI (11-6), Ontario's Hollie Duncan (8-5) and Amie Shackleton of Nunavut (10-3) setup this showdown with Alberta and a great opportunity for the team to reach the Championship Pool which starts Thursday.