Galusha's NWT rink sets Scotties record with seven-point comeback

CALGARY – Kerry Galusha and her rink from Yellowknife have been on the wrong side of the coin over their first three games at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, and seemed destined for a fourth consecutive loss on Tuesday morning at WinSport Arena. 

But then Team Galusha completed the largest comeback in Scotties’ history to earn their first win of the week. 

“It feels really good because we were down 7-0 at one point and we weren’t feeling good,” said Galusha after the improbable 10-9 win over Ontario’s Team Danielle Inglis. “We had to stay positive. We had to claw our way back.”

Team Galusha, who are competing in their last Canadian women’s curling championship as a foursome, found themselves down 7-0 through three ends against Scotties rookies in Team Inglis. 

Team Galusha then scored six consecutive points before knotting the game at 9-9 with a three-spot in the ninth end.

In the 10th, Inglis failed her tap attempt with the last shot of the game, giving Galusha a steal of one and the victory. 

The seven-point comeback win was the largest in Scotties Tournament of Hearts history, which dates back to 1982. Three rinks previously shared the tournament record with six-point comebacks in 1984 and twice in 2007. 

Prior to the formation of the Scotties, the largest comeback in the history of the Canadian women’s curling championship was 10 points in 1970 by British Columbia’s Team Donna Clark. The B.C. foursome trailed Prince Edward Island by 10 points through six ends, storming back to win 12-11 in 11 ends. At the time, the event was known as the Canadian Ladies Curling Association Championship.

Galusha said a steal of three in the fifth end was the difference on Tuesday morning. 

“Danielle had a draw to the eight-foot, which is a simple shot for Danielle, but I don’t think she had thrown a draw in a while and she just got a little caught,” said Galusha. “We were lucky.” 

Galusha, 46, is making her 21st appearance at the Scotties this week in Calgary and said the win felt good after a slow start to the event. 

“Our first three games we could easily be 3-0, but we were 0-3, so it was a bit frustrating,” she said. “It feels really good to pull that out.” 

Northwest Territories now has a 1-3 record, while Inglis' Ontario rink dropped to 2-3.