File photo – CR’s Darienne Kartes

The Corsairs’ chances of a Golden Valley Conference championship took a big hit on Saturday afternoon, as they fell 82-66 at Butte in women’s basketball.

The loss was just the second in conference play for the College of the Redwoods women, who dropped to 6-2 in the GVC and 18-5 overall.

Butte, which improved to 7-1 in conference and 21-5 overall, now takes over sole possession of top spot in the GVC, with two games remaining each.

The CR women will need Butte to lose at least one of their games against Lassen (home) and Feather River (away) to have a shot at the title.

Ashley Quigley continued to lead the way offensively for the Corsairs, finishing with 19 points in the loss, while Dennise Horton had 12 points and Brianna Green 11.

The CR women had the better of the early exchanges, opening up an eight-point lead after the first quarter and holding a four-point advantage at halftime.

The second half, however, belonged to the Roadrunners.

“After halftime we struggled offensively,” CR head coach Jain Tuey said. “And we just kind of made mental mistakes on defense.”

CR will close out conference play with a pair of home games, playing Feather River next Saturday and Shasta the following Wednesday.