'Sponge for knowledge': Mattea Roach wins 12th 'Jeopardy!' match

Nova Scotia's Mattea Roach won her 12th consecutive match on "Jeopardy!" Wednesday night, bringing her total winnings to US$271,282.

The 23-year-old gained another $26,400 on the latest episode.

During Wednesday's episode, Roach faced off against Loni Lewis, a teacher and librarian from Charleston, S.C., and Sean Wong, an IT support student from Wayzata, Minn.

According to the "Jeopardy!" daily box score, Roach attempted to buzz in 37 times and was successful 32 times, for a success rate of 86 per cent.

She had 31 correct responses, for a correct rate of 91 per cent.

All around, Roach has answered clues correctly 93 per cent of the time in her last 12 games, with 319 correct responses and 24 incorrect.

Roach is a tutor who currently lives in Toronto, but she is originally from Halifax.

Her former debate coach at Sacred Heart School in Halifax says he remembers the champion to be a "sponge for knowledge."

In a recent interview with CTV News, Roach's cousin Elizabeth Conrad described her to be an inspiration to the women in their family.

"Now, just seeing her go after something that makes her really happy and tests her knowledge, and kind of has all the hard work she's always put into things paying off. And now everyone is kind of rallying behind her," says Conrad.

She first applied to be on the long-running game show in 2020. This January, she was invited to Los Angeles to tape an episode.

You can tune in to watch Roach compete in her 13th game Thursday night.