Manitoba's Kaitlyn Lawes to play for 2nd Canadian women's curling title in 11 years

Even after scoring four in the first end, Manitoba's Kaitlyn Lawes was braced for a thrilling back-and-forth game with Canada's Kerri Einarson in the 1/2 Page playoff game at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

It never materialized.

Lawes beat Einarson 10-2 in eight ends on Saturday night to advance to the final of the Canadian women's curling championship in Mississauga, Ont. Einarson will meet Alberta's Selena Sturmay in the tournament's semifinal on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, with the winner of that game taking on Lawes for the title at 7 p.m.

"You always expect to have a really close game against Kerri's team," said Lawes outside the dressing room at Paramount Fine Foods Centre. "We expected it to go 10, 11 ends, and we feel like we were prepared for that mentally.

"You never know, even if you get a lead early, we've given up leads before, so we knew we had to play a patient game and just hang in there."

Einarson or Rachel Homan have been finalists at the Tournament of Hearts final each of the past nine years. Homan, the reigning national champion, is missing this year's event because she's representing Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

It's Lawes's first Tournament of Hearts final since she won the 2015 title as the third on Jennifer Jones's Manitoba rink.

"Scotties is tough. It's always been tough for the entirety of the bonspiel," said Lawes, who earned her 100th Scotties win on Saturday. "It's the best curling in Canada, the top teams are here.

"We're really, really, just thrilled to have this opportunity."

Lawes jumped out to an early lead in the first end when she scored a quad. Although Einarson answered with a single in the second, Lawes kept racking up the points with a deuce in the third and a single in the