[File Photo]

The Fiji Pearls now have a hand on the lone World Cup spot available and a win against the Cook Islands today will see them through.

Fiji bounced back from its loss to Tonga Tala on Wednesday to battle Samoa Tifa Moana in a nail-biting encounter at the Vodafone Arena last night.

The Pearls managed to come away with a 45-43 win.

Head Coach Unaisi Rokoura says her team knew what was at stake.

“These girls had to give everything meaning one was possession. We relooked at our past performances with PNG, Tonga and how we gave away possession very easily and while we gained the turnover from Samoa it was about maintaining and utilizing it.”

Rauluni says now it’s about building on the positives and fine-tuning them for the next game.

“Making sure that we utilize our space awareness. We kind of overcrowded most of the middle channels where we want to drive through and that’s something we are looking at.”

The Fiji Pearls take on the Cook Islands today at 4pm.