As the Gilas Pilipinas men’s national basketball team is fighting tooth and nail in Taipei in preparation for the Olympic qualifiers, their female counterparts Perlas Pilipinas topped on Wednesday the FIBA Asia Women’s Championship Level II in Wuhan.

After dropping its opening match against Malaysia, the national cagebelles won four straight games, capping their elimination round with an 80-73 overtime win over Kazakhstan.

Veteran forward Merenciana Arayi of Adamson fame showed Perlas’ puso, sizzling for 13 points in extra period.

Arayi fired two triples and made three free throws off a foul she drew from the three-point arc. She finished with 28 points on top of a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line.

Reigning UAAP most valuable player Afril Bernardino of National University helped Arayi with an all-around game of four points, 14 rebounds, five assists, six steals, and two blocks while Far Eastern University power forward Allana Lim chipped in 17 points.

Prior to today’s ballgame, Perlas blasted Hong Kong last Tuesday, 75-62; routed Sri Lanka last Monday, 65-45; and escaped North Korea last Sunday, 69-68.

They dropped their first game against 2015 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Malaysia last Saturday, 64-71.

Perlas Pilipinas will face Level I cellar dweller India in the do-or-die match for the right to be promoted to the Level I tournament of the 2017 FIBA Asia Women’s Championship. Level II runner-up North Korea will face Level I fifth-placer Thailand in the other match.

The top two teams of the current Level II tournament will battle the last two teams of Level I. The winners of both matches will be promoted to the Level I tournament of the 2017 FIBA Asia Women’s Championship, which is the qualifying tournament for the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Spain.