Team Manitoba-Jones skip Jennifer Jones, left, reacts to her teammate's shot as Team Manitoba-Cameron skip Kate Cameron looks on in the semifinal at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary, Alta., Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
CALGARY – Rachel Homan has won the Canadian women’s curling championship with a dramatic 5-4 win over Jennifer Jones.
Homan and teammates Emma Miskew claimed the fourth Scotties Tournament of Hearts victories of their careers, but first since 2017.
Jones, needing to draw to the button on her final rock, came up just short, allowing Homan to count one and secure the exciting victory.
Lead Sarah Wilkes earned her second title and it was the first for third Tracy Fleury.
Homan went undefeated in the tournament with an 11-0 record.
Both skips had some issues adjusting to ice conditions in Sunday night’s final, especially with delicate draws.
Homan blanked the first end then was forced to take a single in the second.
Jones came up short on a draw for two in the third end and only counted a single to tie the game 1-1.
Homan was held to a single point in the fourth, then stole one in the fifth to grab a 3-1 lead at the break.
After blanking the sixth end, Jones drew for one in the seventh, leaving Homan up 3-2 heading into the eighth.
Homan, facing three Jones’ rocks in the rings on her final shot of the eighth, executed a takeout on shot rock and stuck for one to go up 4-2.
Jones, with a draw to the four-foot on last rock in the ninth, counted two to tie the game 4-4.
Homan beat Jones 7-5 in pool play, then beat her again 6-4 in the Page 1-2 playoff game.
Homan’s team will represent Canada at next month’s women’s world curling championship in Sydney, N.S., and will return to the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ont., as defending champion.
Homan won a world championship gold in 2017. Her teams finished second and third in two other appearances.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 25, 2024.
