Team Jones Advances to Tomorrow’s PINTY’S ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Final Against Team Sweeting

BANFF, ALTA. – In a matchup of the decorated veteran against the young upstart, it all came down to a draw to the button finish in the PINTY’S ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Women’s Semifinal. In the end, Canadian curling legend Jennifer Jones defeated TSN skins game newcomer Kelsey Rocque in front of a full house earlier tonight at the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre in Banff, Alta.   Team Jones will face off against Team Sweeting in the Women’s Final, which airs tomorrow (Sunday, Jan. 10) at 1 p.m. ET live on TSN.  

DOWNLOAD PHOTOS FROM TEAM JONES VS. TEAM ROCQUE HERE: http://bit.ly/1ZU7NgX

  Team Jones, which also features Kaitlyn Lawes, Jill Officer, and Dawn McEwen, took home the victory by winning $14,000 in prize money. After today’s semifinal, Jones’ career TSN skins game earnings total $45,000.   21-year-old Rocque is making her first appearance in the PINTY’S ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME. Her rink of Laura Crocker, Taylor McDonald, and Jen Gates, will go home with a total prize of $7,000.   Draw Summary The game opened with Rocque forcing a carry-over in the first end, putting $2,000 at stake in the second end. Going shot for shot, Team Jones overcurled on the final stone and Rocque stole the $2,000 skin to get on the board first. Without the hammer, Rocque came up short with her final stone, giving the $1,500 skin to Jones in the third. Holding last rock in the fourth end, Rocque was unable to force the carry-over and Jones added another $1,500 skin to double her tally. Heading into the fifth end, Jones led Rocque at a score of $3,000 to $2,000. Holding last rock, Rocque threw too heavy and missed the opportunity for two and the skin, resulting in a carry-over. There was $5,000 on the line in the sixth end. Jones held last rock but was unable to force the carry-over, allowing Rocque to steal the skin and take a sizeable lead. The seventh end saw Jones pick up the $4,500 skin and narrowly pull ahead. With $6,500 and the game on the line, both teams took 60-second timeouts to weigh their options. With the hammer, Rocque missed a delicate draw to get two and forced a draw to the button finish. In the end, it all came down to two pressure shots with the Sochi 2014 Olympic champions securing the victory and $14,000.   Final result:

• Team Jones: $14,000
• Team Rocque: $7,000

  On the men’s side, Team Gushue defeated Team Simmons earlier today to advance to the PINTY’S ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Men’s Final. The men’s action continues tonight (Saturday, Jan. 9) as defending PINTY’S ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME champions Team Jacobs takes on Team McEwen at 9 p.m. ET on TSN (see complete broadcast schedule below).   Broadcast Schedule Saturday, Jan. 9 9 p.m. ET on TSN – Team Jacobs vs. Team McEwen   Sunday, Jan. 10 1 p.m. ET on TSN1, TSN4, and TSN5 – Women’s Final: Team Sweeting vs. Team Jones 8 p.m. ET on TSN – Men’s Final: Team Gushue vs. TBC   Record Ratings Last year TSN introduced an expanded curling skins game format that generated record ratings:

• TSN’s annual curling skins game earned an average audience of 461,000 – the highest ever for the event
• Audiences were up 40% compared to the previous year
• The Team Jones vs. Team Carey semifinal and the women’s and men’s finals became the only TSN skins game telecasts to ever achieve average audiences of more than 500,000 viewers

  Curling on TSN As the official broadcaster of Curling Canada, TSN broadcasts close to 300 hours of live Season of Champions curling each year, including the TIM HORTONS BRIER and SCOTTIES TOURNAMENT OF HEARTS, along with the WORLD MEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP, FORD WORLD WOMEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP, HOME HARDWARE CANADA CUP, WFG CONTINENTAL CUP, and CANADIAN JUNIORS.   Source: Numeris (formerly BBM Canada) *Schedule subject to change