Thienesrink scotties
Wendy Thienes (second from right) and her team at Thursday's opening luncheon of the Viterra Scotties, with CurlSask Competition Liason Mitch Minken (centre) of the Swift Current Curling Club

Shaunavon's Wendy Thienes says she and her team were happy with how they played at last week's Viterra Scotties Provincial Women's Curling Championship, despite not winning a single game.

"We had a great time," Thienes said. "Assiniboia put on a really good event, and when you're there with the opportunity to play the best in the province... [Stefanie] Lawton, we got to play her, and actaully that was our best game that we had, and she went on to win. These teams are coached by the likes of Rick Folk and Russ Howard, and so it was pretty fun to be in those ranks for the weekend.

"We hoped we would have played a little better than we did, but we got better with each game, so we're holding our heads high," she added.

Thienes last played at the provincial championship eight years ago, and said the level of competition has changed from that time.

"That was an eight-team round robin, this was two pools of six, so a few more teams got to participate, which is, I think, great for the sport," she said. "The calibre of play and the style of play has changed slightly since then, and some of these young faces that are coming up... the juniors moving into the women's ranks. I think I was about the second-oldest skip there, so that's a little different than eight years ago, too."

Thienes says it was a fun experience overall in Assiniboia, and adds they had a good cheering section there as well.

"We had great fan support from Shaunavon and all over the southwest, and we really do appreciate people cheering us on," she added. "It's what keeps us going in the game."

Stefanie Lawton won the event for the second year in a row, and also won the right to represent Saskatchewan at next month's Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw.