Kelly Scott began the defence of her Canadian women's curling title with a victory in the opening draw of the Tournament of Hearts Saturday in Lethbridge, Alta.

The Team Canada skip guided her team to an 8-5 victory over Heather Strong of Newfoundland and Labrador. Scott made a double-takeout to score three in the ninth end to break a 5-5 deadlock to earn the win.

Team Canada skip Kelly Scott delivers a stone during first draw action at the 2007 Tournament of Hearts Saturday.
(Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

In other opening draw play from the afternoon, Saskatchewan's Jan Betker cruised to a 9-3 win over 2005 Tournament of Hearts champion Jennifer Jones of Manitoba.

Kerry Koe of the Northwest Territories/Yukon stole single points in the seventh and 10th ends to defeat Jill Mouzar of Nova Scotia 6-3. Prince Edward Island's Suzanne Gaudet stole two in the fifth end and singles in the sixth and seventh ends en route to a 7-2 win over Cheryl Bernard of Alberta.

Saskatchewan tops the standings with a 2-0 record after it posted an 8-3 win over Nova Scotia in the evening draw.

"I don't know. I mean, we came here kind of flying low, and we got off to a good start," said Betker, a three-time Canadian and world champion. "Ask me mid-week if we get a few losses, it might feel different, but right now, it feels very comfortable out there."

Manitoba capped an amazing comeback by scoring five in the 10th end to beat the Northwest Territories/Yukon 12-8 in its second game of the day.

Other results from the evening draw saw B.C.'s Kelley Law dump Chantal Osborne of Quebec 12-5, while Ontario's Krista Scharf needed an extra end to beat New Brunswick's Sandy Comeau 6-5.

B.C., Ontario, P.E.I. and Team Canada are tied in the standings at 1-0. Manitoba and Northwest Territories/Yukon are 1-1, while Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Quebec and Alberta are 0-1.

Nova Scotia is in last place at 0-2.