Perlas Pilipinas grabs top spot in OT thriller vs Kazakhstan

MANILA, Philippines -- Perlas Pilipinas sealed the Group B top spot after a come-from-behind 80-73 overtime victory against Kazakhstan Wednesday in the 2015 FIBA Asia Women's Championship in Wuhan, China. 

Perlas Pilipinas came charging back from a six-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to pull off the win in overtime.  The dramatic victory put the Filipinas in an easy match against bottom-ranked India of Group A on Friday with the winner set to earn a spot in the top-tier competition of FIBA Asia for the next two years and a chance to qualify for the FIBA World Cup Women's Championship.  

Merenciana Arayi poured in 13 of her game-high 28 points in the extra period that was enough to lead Perlas Pilipinas past the hard luck Kazakhstan. 

It was the fourth straight win for the Filipinas after opening the tournament with a 64-71 loss to Malaysia. 

Arayi hit four triples and shot a perfect 12-of-12 from the line easily her best game in an international competition for the Philippines. Allana Lim added 17 points while Shelley Anne Gupilan and Marizze Andrea Tongco chipped in 10 points apiece. 

Kazakhstan, which dropped its second loss in five games, wrested control at the start and took a 23-20 lead. The gritty Filipinas came back to grab a one-point halftime lead, 33-32, but a third quarter meltdown allowed the Kazakhs to go into the payoff period with a six-point advantage. 

Perlas Pilipinas actually had a chance to win it in the regulation but Camille Sambile could only make a split at the line to knot the count at 63-all then Gupilan and Lim missed their hurried attempts before the buzzer. 

In overtime, Arayi was in the zone as she hit 11 straight points to give the Perlas Pilipinas a 74-69 lead with 2:47 left. Afril Bernardino and Tongco were the only other Filipinas who scored in the extra time. 

The Scores:

Perlas Pilipinas 80 - Arayi 28, Lim 17, Gupilan 10, Tongco 10, Roman 5, Sambile 5, Bernardino 4, Borja 1, Resultay 0, Animam 0. 

Kazakhstan 73 - Ossipenko 19, Yagodkina 19, Kurazova 14, Kondrakova 11, Vinokoruva 6, Abdreupova 2, Dots 1, Ivanova 1, Ovechkina 0, Karnova 0, Mussalimova 0. 

Quarterscores: 20-23, 33-32, 49-55, 63-all, 80-73 (OT).