VICTORIA, February 24, 2009 — Saskatchewan's Stefanie Lawton took reigning Canadian and world champion Jennifer Jones down from the ranks of the unbeaten Tuesday morning at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Lawton's Saskatoon team — third Marliese Kasner, second Sherri Singler and lead Lana Vey — stole the winning point in the 10th end for a 7-6 triumph over Team Canada in Draw 9 play at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

With the win, Saskatchewan improves to 3-3, while Team Canada drops into a tie with B.C.'s Marla Mallett for first place in the 12-team round-robin at 5-1.

Jones attempted a runback double takeout to remove two Saskatchewan counters in the four-foot, but could only get one out.

"We knew that we were going to have a tough game this morning, and we had to come out shooting," said Lawton. "There were a couple misses here and there, and a couple breaks both ways, and we ended up coming out on top. That was key for us."

It was Saskatchewan's third straight win after losing three to open the Hearts.

"We struggled at the start, and we knew that we weren't playing like we could be playing," said Lawton. "We just had to figure out how to get to where we normally are. It was a big game yesterday morning, and it really got the momentum going and we have to carry on with that."

Meanwhile, B.C. shrugged off its first loss of the Scotties in impressive fashion on Tuesday morning. Mallett, who fell to Alberta's Cheryl Bernard Monday night, rebounded by stealing two in the first end against Barb Spencer of Manitoba en route to a 12-4 win. B.C. picked up three in the third end, and counted five in the fifth en route to improving to 5-1. Manitoba dropped to 2-4 with the loss.

Alberta had a chance to be in a three-way tie for top spot, but struggled early against Newfoundland/Labrador's Heather Strong and wound up losing 8-6. Alberta, which dropped to 4-2, gave up a first-end deuce, then was victimized by a steal of three by Newfoundland/Labrador when Bernard missed her last-rock draw for a single point.

Newfoundland/Labrador improved to 2-4 with the victory.

In the other morning game, Ontario's Krista McCarville stole four in the 10th end for a 9-6 win over Nova Scotia's Nancy McConnery. With the win, Ontario improves to 3-3, while Nova Scotia drops to 1-5.

P.E.I.'s Rebecca Jean MacPhee (3-2), Quebec's Marie-France Larouche (3-2), New Brunswick's Andrea Kelly (2-3) and Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories/Yukon (1-4) all had byes in Draw 10.

Later Tuesday, draws are scheduled for 4 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Both will be shown live on TSN. As well, archived footage from earlier draws is available for viewing at TSN.ca.