FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2008

Americans win third straight at 2008 World Women's Championship

(VERNON, British Columbia) - The USA women led by Debbie McCormick won their third straight game after defeating Scotland, 9-7, Monday morning at the 2008 Ford World Women's Championship at the Greater Vernon Multiplex.

McCormick (Rio, Wis.) and teammates Allison Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Nicole Joraanstad (Madison, Wis.) and Tracy Sachtjen (Lodi, Wis.) improve to 3-1 with the win behind frontrunners Canada and China - two teams the U.S. has yet to play.

"We're feeling good about where we are in the standings, and our energy level is real good. We know what's ahead of us," said Sachtjen, who came to Vernon as the alternate but has played all four matches for the U.S. due to Natalie Nicholson coming down with the flu. The U.S. ladies get right back in action with a 1 p.m. PT game today against Germany's Andrea Schopp (1-2).

The Americans got off to a slow start this morning against Scotland's Gail Munro team but put together a more balanced effort in the later ends to earn the third win.

"It was a little slower start than we'd have liked," said Sachtjen, who won the 2003 world championship with McCormick and Pottinger. "I felt like one of us was always off on the key shots, but it got better."

The Scottish ladies got to work right away as they got a stone buried behind a center guard early in the end en route to a deuce. The Americans struggled in the second end with McCormick forced to draw for one point. The U.S. played good defense in the third end as they forced Munro into taking a single point when she hit and didn't get the roll as she tried to blank the end.

The U.S. looked like they had a good end set up in the fourth but allowed the Scots to steal a point when McCormick's final takeout rolled too far across the house. They made up for it in the fifth end as McCormick made a side-angle raise takeout on the Scottish stone in the four-foot to score three.

The American ladies followed up with a steal of one in the sixth end when Munro came in just a little too deep with her draw into the four-foot. The U.S. turned the heat up further in the seventh end as Munro was forced to make a takeout for one point.

McCormick countered with a soft takeout, aided by strong sweeping from Joraanstad and Sachtjen, on a half buried Scottish stone in the four-foot for two. The Scots would come roaring back with two of their own to tie the game, 7-7, heading into the 10th end.

Sachtjen got the end set up nicely for the U.S. as she buried half of her second rock behind a center guard that the Scots struggled to remove. McCormick put another stone in play next to it with her first shot and wouldn't have to throw her final stone as Munro slid to the back of the house with the U.S. scoring two to win.

Game scores: USA 9, Scotland 7; Italy 5, Russia 4; Sweden 6, Japan 5; China 9, Denmark 8 (extra end)

USA line score:
Scotland* 201 100 102 0 7
USA 010 031 020 2 9
*last stone in first end

Standings:
China 4-0
Canada 3-0
USA 3-1
Switzerland 2-1
Denmark 2-2
Japan 2-2
Sweden 2-2
Germany 1-2
Italy 1-3
Russia 1-3
Scotland 1-3
Czech Republic 0-3

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies and Nike.

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For more information: Terry Kolesar, USA Curling, terry.kolesar@usacurl.org, 715-344-1199, Ext. 202, or 608-338-9900 (cell).