Otago was beaten 4-1 by a strong North Harbour quintet in the morning and was downed 3-2 by Waikato in the afternoon.
Otago now has six points and 15 games and is looking for a midfield placing unless the team unleashes a 5-0 win over a weak Taranaki team in the final round this morning.
Otago No 1 Monica Tulisi had a mixed day, suffering her first loss in the morning when beaten 6 and 4 by the highly-rated Lydia Ko (North Harbour) who shot a 6-under par round for the win.
In the afternoon, Tulisi returned to form winning the first three holes on the homeward nine to beat Emily Perry 3 and 2.
No 2 Lisa Henderson halved her morning match with Harbour's Rica Tse after a good homeward fightback but lost to Kelly Nicholas (Waikato) in the afternoon after trailing by five with six holes to play.
No 3 Shani Arona was beaten 2 and 1 by Harbour opponent Rebekah Brownlee, despite holding a narrow lead at the turn.
In the afternoon she downed Waikato's Fai Tongdethsri in 14 holes with a faultless display of golf.
St Hilda's schoolgirl Laura Hoskin managed to halve her morning match despite being four down after five holes but lost to Charlotte Wilson (Waikato) 3 and 1 after finding a fairway bunker on the 17th fairway.
Otago No 5 Jo Hicks-Beach had a forgettable day with a narrow loss in the morning and a 5 and 4 drubbing in the afternoon.
She looked set to contribute in the morning but lost the 17th hole when she failed to get up and down.
Hicks-Beach could have managed a half with North Harbour's Kristin Farrell but her birdie putt on the final green lipped out.
Waikato, the 2008 champion, and North Harbour, last year's runner-up, have already booked their places in tomorrow's semifinals.
With Waikato sneaking into the top spot on a countback of individual games, it may mean Harbour clashes with cross-bridge rival Auckland in the semifinal.
Host Wellington dug deep to upset defending champion Auckland in a must-win clash in division one to keep its alive hopes of a semifinal spot.
After being held to a half with leader Bay of Plenty in the morning, Wellington needed the win over Auckland, which looked improbable until it came from behind to get home 3-1.
Bay of Plenty had to withstand a tough match against Canterbury to win 4-1 and go to the top of division one with nine points, one ahead of Wellington, with Auckland back on seven points.
That leaves Wellington needing to beat winless Aorangi South Canterbury in the final round today to earn its first semifinal place for more than a decade while Auckland must beat Bay of Plenty by a clear match if it is to make the playoffs on countback.
In today's final round, North Harbour and Waikato clash to decide which team is top of the section for the semifinals, while the Bay of Plenty-Auckland game looms as a classic to decide the other division. The semifinals and finals are tomorrow.
