McCarville, Mallett, MacPhee join Canadian women’s curling championship field

Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville, Prince Edward Island’s Robyn MacPhee and B.C.’s Marla Mallett have won their way into the Canadian women’s curling championship field.

Mallett downed Diane Gushulak 6-3 in the B.C. provincial women’s final Sunday night in Duncan, B.C. MacPhee stole singles in the ninth and 10th ends to beat Veronica Smith 7-5 in the P.E.I. final in Summerside.

McCarville defeated Tracy Fleury 10-6 to take the Northern Ontario title in Nipigon.

Defending champion Chelsea Carey of Calgary, Quebec’s Eve Belisle, Yukon’s Sarah Koltun, Kerry Galusha of Northwest Territories and Geneva Chislett of Nunavut have already qualified for this year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts in St. Catharines, Ont., from Feb. 18-26.

The remaining seven teams have yet to be determined via provincial playdowns.

Both Mallett and McCarville have played in the final of previous Canadian championships.

McCarville lost 7-6 to Carey last year in Grande Prairie, Alta. Mallett was beaten 8-5 by defending champion Jennifer Jones in the 2009 title game in Victoria.

MacPhee skipped P.E.I. to a 7-4 record in 2009 and lost in an extra-end tiebreaker to Jones.