CALGARY -- Trish Paulsen's curling team from Saskatoon stole their way to a Canadian junior women's curling championship Saturday by thieving points in the last ends of both the semifinal and final.

The Nutana Curling Club foursome pilfered a deuce to beat Alberta's Nadine Chyz 6-4 in the championship game, after stealing a single point in the earlier semifinal for a 7-6 win over Manitoba's Breanne Meakin.

"We pulled it off," said a relieved Paulsen. "We were oddly calm coming into the final after the semifinal. That was a tight game and a nailbiter and we ended up stealing so we knew we could do it again this game."

Paulsen, Kari Kennedy, Kari Paulsen and Natalie Yanko will represent Canada at the world junior women's championship March 5-13 in Perth, Scotland.

The junior men's final Sunday features Saskatchewan's Braeden Moskowy and the winner of the day's earlier semifinal between Ontario's Mat Camm and Colin Thomas of Newfoundland and Labrador.

It's been seven years since Canadian women won a world junior title. The women's favourite in Perth will be the host team's Eve Muirhead, winner of three junior crowns from 2007 to 2009.

The Paulsen team happens to be coached by Bob Miller, who coached daughter Marliese's team to Canada's last women's title in 2003 in Flims, Switzerland.

"I'm up for it," Paulsen said. "We're excited to have Bob Miller with us. He's been talking us through basically every game. We know how Marliese's daughter went through it in 2003 and we basically, followed her footsteps, did the same path she did."

It was a devastating loss for Chyz's team out of the Calgary Curling Club. Alberta topped round-robin standings with an 11-1 record to earn a bye to the final, while Saskatchewan (9-3) finished second ahead of Manitoba (8-4).

Chyz had the hammer coming home with the score tied 4-4, but Saskatchewan caught a break when Alberta second Jessie Scheidegger released her first shot too late on an attempted peel of guard. Her stone was pulled for a hog-line violation.

Alberta still had shot stone at that point, but Kennedy was able to draw to the top of the eight-foot rings to set up a dangerous angle raise and put pressure on Alberta.

"We were able to capitalize on that miss for sure," Paulsen said.

Chyz opted to peel a guard with her first stone of the last end, in order to keep the front of the house open for her last shot. The Alberta skip looked nervous, however, as she nearly ran Saskatchewan's guard back onto her own shot stone.

On her last shot of the game, Paulsen executed an open hit to lie two counters -- one on the top corner of the four-foot rings and the other on the side of the four-foot. Chyz needed to hit the one counter on the side and roll slightly inside the stone at the top for the victory, but her takeout was thin and her shooter rolled out of the rings.

"I just wanted to have a shot in the end so I could do it," a tearful Chyz said. "When we had the hammer we felt really comfortable and in control. I guess it wasn't left as pretty as you'd like with quite a few rocks in play. There was a shot there."

The last Saskatchewan women's team to win the M & M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors was Mandy Selzer in 2006.

Paulsen, 20, her 19-year-old sister Kari and 18-year-old Yanko are students at the University of Saskatchewan, while 20-year-old Kennedy works as a salesperson in sports retail.

Trailing 4-3 heading into the ninth, Paulsen wanted to blank the end to keep last-rock advantage coming home. An attempted peel of two guards went awry for Kennedy as she knocked an Alberta rock into the rings. Chyz drew in to split the house with her stones, forcing Paulsen to hit and take her point.

Alberta scored the first deuce of the game in the eighth end as Chyz executed an open hit for her two points and a 4-3 lead. The host team was actually set up to score three earlier in the end, but third Rebecca Pattison hit and rolled out of the rings on a takeout to reduce her team's share of counters.

Saskatchewan took its point in the seventh to lead 3-2 after Chyz made a pressure draw to the button to tie it up 2-2 in the sixth. Chyz wrecked on a guard drawing through a port in the fifth to give up a steal of one and a 2-1 lead to Saskatchewan.

Chyz had hammer to start the game by virtue of finishing first in the round-robin. After two straight blank ends of peeling rocks out of the rings, the Alberta skip finally put the game on in the third by calling for a guard from lead Kimberley Anderson.

Chyz wasn't able to generate more than one point with the hammer, however, and settled for a hit and a single point.