2011 United States Women's Curling Championship


The 2011 United States Women's Curling Championship took place on February 12–19 at the Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota. It was held in conjunction with the 2011 United States Men's Curling Championship. After winning the final over the Allison Pottinger rink, the Patti Lank rink represented the United States at the 2011 World Championships at Esbjerg, Denmark, finishing in 7th place with a 4-5 win-loss record.

Road to the Nationals

Teams qualified for the women's nationals in one of two ways. Two teams automatically qualified as the top two US teams on the Order of Merit list after the Curl Mesabi Cash Spiel is completed. This year, those two teams were the Erika Brown and Allison Pottinger rinks. Teams could also qualify for the women's nationals through a challenge round.

Challenge Round

The women's challenge round was held on January 19–23 in Grand Forks, North Dakota. There were eleven teams participating in the challenge round for eight spots in the nationals in Fargo. In accordance with the rules set forth in the 2010-2011 USCA rules booklet, the challenge round consisted of a divisional round robin with two divisions. There was also a double knockout provision, where a team must have two losses in their win-loss record in order to be eliminated from qualifying for the nationals. Teams played tiebreakers to narrow down the number of qualifiable teams to the number of qualifier spots available.
The divisional round robin consisted of two divisions of 6 and 5, respectively. At the end of play, all teams except the bottom two teams in each division advanced to the nationals. The bottom four teams then played in a single-knockout playoff to decide the winner of the last qualification spot. The double knockout provision applies in that a winless team will not be able to advance to the nationals.

Teams

Results

Division A
SeedBerthLankO'Le.HaaseHaagWap.Tuck.WL
1 Patti Lank-10-96-510-211-340
2 Norma O'Leary-6-511-111-78-740
3 Christine Haase9-105-6-9-88-322
5 Jenna Haag5-61-11-10-76-422
4 Kimberly Wapola2-107-118-97-1011-914
6 Amanda Tucker3-117-83-84-69-1105

Division B
SeedBerthSorm.Reis.Pott.KarstGoodWL
1 Aileen Sormunen10-3-7-68-330
5 Nicole Reiser3-107-510-510-431
2 Cassandra Potter-5-78-38-621
3 Lori Karst6-75-103-87-313
4 Em Good3-84-106-83-704

Nationals

Teams

Standings

Through Draw 9
Team WLPFPAEnds WonEnds LostBlank EndsStolen Ends
Patti Lank8170523936312
Allison Pottinger7270434528320
Erika Brown728147393039
Cassandra Potter6367583833512
Nicole Reiser4563693942313
Aileen Sormunen4557604036613
Jenna Haaag364155343775
Norma O'Leary366065314086
Chris Haase275167334037
Lori Karsty183983284235

Round Robin

All times listed in Central Standard Time.

Draw 1

Saturday, February 12, 4:30 pm

Draw 2

Sunday, February 13, 8:00 am

Draw 3

Sunday, February 13, 4:00 pm

Draw 4

Monday, February 14, 8:00 am

Draw 5

Monday, February 14, 4:00 pm

Draw 6

Tuesday, February 15, 10:00 am

Draw 7

Tuesday, February 15, 7:00 pm

Draw 8

Wednesday, February 16, 12:00 pm

Draw 9

Wednesday, February 16, 8:00 pm

Playoffs

1 vs. 2 Game

Thursday, February 17, 8:00 pm

3 vs. 4 Game

Thursday, February 17, 8:00 pm

Semifinal

Friday, February 18, 4:00 pm

Championship Final

Saturday, February 19, 10:00 am
In the final of the women's championship, Lank opened up the game with a light tap for a deuce, and then stole a point in the second after Pottinger's takeout left one of Lank's stones closer to the button than her stone was. Pottinger drew against four to pick up a single in the third, but Lank drew to the button to score another deuce and take a commanding four-point lead. A failed double takeout by Lank left Pottinger with an easy draw for two, cutting Lank's lead to two points. After the break, Lank scored a big three points after Pottinger's failed takeout attempt gave Lank an easy draw. Lank stole another point from Pottinger when Pottinger's takeout didn't push one of Lank's stones out far enough. After coming up light to only take a single in the eighth end, Pottinger conceded the game, and Lank won the championship.