Jill Shumay and her rink from Maidstone were considered underdogs all the way to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The team emerged from the northern playdowns in North Battleford, won the provincial championship and continued that momentum into their first four games at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Kingston, Ont., which started Saturday.
Team Saskatchewan went 4-0 to start the tournament with wins over the Northwest Territories, Quebec, New Brunswick and Alberta. Since then they have lost to Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Ontario and at press time they trailed Canada in the 5-1 after four ends.
Saskatchewan still has to face British Columbia, Newfoundland and Manitoba in the round robin and two of those three teams have winning records.
Ontario and Manitoba were undefeated heading into action Thursday while Canada was 6-1, and Shumay and Team B.C. were next in the standings at 4-3.
Shumay's team of Kara Johnston, Taryn Holtby, Jinaye Ayrey also added fifth Patty Hersikorn and coach Gene Friesen for the Scotties Tournament.
Playoffs start Saturday after the Canada game, Team Saskatchewan is still in the hunt for a playoffs spot, but will need to be nearly perfect the rest of the way through.
