The team formed by Marie-France Larouche, Kelly Middaugh, Emily Riley, Jamie Sinclair and Laurie St-Georges were in action from February 16 to 25 representing Quebec at the Canadian Women’s Championship, better known as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The team played its first game against Team Canada (Einarson) on Friday night, which ended in an 8-2 loss in 8 ends. However, the team bounced back with a win over Newfoundland and Labrador. Monday was also a successful day for the girls. The Quebec team won their two games against Saskatchewan and Lawes (Manitoba), which propelled them to 3rd place in their group with a record of 3 wins and 1 loss halfway through the round robin!
Over the next two days of competition, the Quebec team unfortunately lost to Alberta (Sturmay), British Columbia (Brown) and Northern Ontario (McCarville).
On the final day of the preliminary round at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, while Alberta (Sturmay) and Team Canada (Einarson), Jones (Manitoba) and Homan (Ontatrio) had already qualified for the playoffs, there was still one spot left up for grabs in each pool for the playoffs.
With 3 wins and 4 losses, the Quebec team still had a small chance of qualifying, but they did not fully control their own destiny. A win in their last game of the preliminary round did not guarantee them an automatic spot, as it also depended on the performance of the other teams and their shootouts. Despite a nice 9-6 win in their last game against Prince Edward Island, Team Quebec did not earn the final berth to the playoffs with a record of 4 wins and 4 losses. Team Lawes (Manitoba) had the best overall shootout record and qualified for the playoffs. In the end, Team Homan (Ontario) won the Scotties Tournament of Hearts after a close final against Team Jones (Manitoba).
Congratulations to Marie-France, Kelly, Emily, Jamie and Laurie for their great week as Team Quebec!
