CHARLOTTETOWN - Saskatchewan's Amber Holland clinched first place in the round robin at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Thursday with a 7-6 win over Andrea Kelly of New Brunswick.
At 9-1 with a game remaining against B.C., no other team can catch the Kroneau Curling Club rink with two draws to go in the preliminary round.
Ontario's Rachel Homan and Nova Scotia's Heather Smith-Dacey both won to assure themselves of at least a tiebreaker game at 7-3. Canada's Jennifer Jones (6-3) still has two games to play.
The top four teams at the end of the round robin advance to the playoffs with any ties for fourth solved by tiebreaker games. As the top seed, Holland's rink will start each playoff game with last-rock advantage.
"Obviously getting to the playoffs was the goal, but having that little advantage of being in the one-two (playoff) and having hammer, makes you feel a little more comfortable," said Holland.
The top two teams meet in a Page playoff game Friday and the winner advances directly to Sunday's championship game. The loser faces the winner of the playoff between the third and fourth seeds Saturday.
Saskatchewan had a small scare late in the game against New Brunswick when third Tammy Schneider fell hard on her arm. Schneider spent a few moments testing her elbow and then continued to play.
"Scary when Tammy went down," Holland said. "I think she's alive. She says she's not bleeding and not dead and all is good."
Smith-Dacey scored two with her last shot of the game to beat Alberta's Shannon Kleibrink 8-7. Alberta's playoff hopes are on thin ice with the loss. Kleibrink needed teams ahead of her in the standings to lose their remaining games in order to stay in contention.
Homan bounced back from a pair of losses to beat Kerry Galusha of the Territories 9-3. Manitoba's Cathy Overton-Clapham dropped an 8-5 decision to Suzanne Gaudet of P.E.I.
The host team was 5-5, while Manitoba fell to 3-7 alongside New Brunswick and the Territories.
