Curling Women's Round-Robin Late Friday Results at Olympics 2018

The United States scored an important 7-6 victory over the Olympic Athletes from Russia in the 2018 Winter Olympics women's curling tournament Saturday (Friday night in the U.S.) at the Gangneung Curling Centre in South Korea.

Elsewhere in Session 5, Sweden stormed back from an early 4-1 deficit to remain unbeaten with a victory over Switzerland. China ended Japan's hopes of an undefeated run through pool play with an extra-end win, while Great Britain edged Denmark in the other morning match.

United States 7, Olympic Athletes from Russia 6 (11 ends)

As expected, this was a hard-fought contest with both sides desperate for a victory following a 1-2 start to the Olympics.

The teams were tied at four through six ends. They traded points over the remaining four ends of regulation, forcing the curling equivalent of overtime, and the U.S. took advantage of having the hammer to escape with a one-point win.

USA Curling provided the updated standings, showing the United States just outside the top four:

Now the Americans must try to start a winning streak when they return to action later Saturday in South Korea to take on their northern neighbors from Canada. The Olympic Athletes from Russian are also back on the ice in the night session to face Japan.

Sweden 8, Switzerland 7

After falling behind by three in the early going, Sweden rattled off seven consecutive points over the next five ends to seemingly take complete control of the fixture.

Switzerland battled back late, scoring one point in the ninth to get back within three heading to the final end. It couldn't quite complete a comeback of its own, however, scoring just two in the 10th to come up short in one of the wildest battles of the Pyeongchang Games so far.

Both teams are off for Saturday night's draw. They'll return to action Sunday afternoon when the Swedes take on Great Britain and the Swiss face off with Canada.

China 7, Japan 6 (11 ends)

Japan used a strong start to put itself in position to reach 4-0 in the tournament, but China turned the tables with a three-point eighth end to grab the lead.

Although the Japanese side was able to force an extra end with a clutch point in the 10th, it wasn't enough to save the team's unblemished record. Their Chinese counterparts, led by skip Wang Bingyu, ended the match with a point in the 11th.

As mentioned, Japan will take on Russia in the second women's session of the day. China will also be in action at the Gangneung Curling Centre against Denmark.

Great Britain 7, Denmark 6

Great Britain and Denmark continued the trend of fixtures decided by a single point.

The Brits were up by three heading to the ninth, but the Danes scored one in each of the final two ends to force their European foes to make some key shots in the last end to hold on. The difference was multi-point ends—three for Eve Muirhead's group and none for Madeleine Dupont and Co. in defeat.

Denmark faces another tough challenge in its second match Saturday against China. Meanwhile, Great Britain will have to deal with the home fans as it goes up against South Korea in Draw 6.