With the scores locked at 58 58 heading into overtime, the Goldrush made the most of some poor Canterbury shooting to close the game out with a 9 3 run.
After Grace Allan and Soraya Umaga Jensen gave the home side a 61 58 lead early in overtime, both sides went cold from the field.
However, Goldrush captain Janet Main calmly drained a deep jumper with 45sec left to all but seal the win.
Canterbury guard Laken Wairau made things interesting when she finally connected from beyond the arc, pulling her side to within three points with 17.3sec left.
But Umaga Jensen iced the game from the free throw line to give Otago four wins heading into this weekend's tournament in Christchurch.
''We needed that,'' Goldrush coach Todd Marshall said after the final whistle.
''We've got six games next weekend, and they're tougher games than we had in our first tournament.''
Yesterday's win lifts Otago above Canterbury into third place in the competition, but the two teams above it in the standings - Waikato Wizards and Capital Flyers - have played more games.
It looked like overtime would not be necessary when Tall Fern and Goldrush forward Jillian Harmon drilled a contested jumper with 1.8sec left on the clock.
However, she was fouled before the shot and uncharacteristically missed both shots from the charity stripe.
Harmon, the only player on both teams to play the entire 45 minutes, had shot 8 of 10 from the line before the final seconds, but pressure does funny things to even the best players.
After a sloppy start, the Goldrush took the lead midway through the first quarter and led 31 27 at halftime.
Harmon took over in the third quarter, scoring 10 of her 18 points. But Otago's 47 42 lead with a quarter to play quickly evaporated after the home side found itself on the wrong side of the whistle.
The Goldrush racked up five team fouls in a little over two minutes, leaving the Wildcats in the penalty.
Canterbury locked the game up early in the fourth quarter, only for Aleisha Ruske, who shot 5 of 7 from the field, to make a great move to the basket, drawing a foul and converting the three point play from the line.
The visitors hung in through forward Darcy Rose, who was a nightmare to defend inside, and hit the lead for the first time since the first quarter with three minutes left.
After Harmon and Canterbury guard Hayley Gray shot free throws to leave the game tied at 58 58, both teams missed a number of chances to win in regulation.
Rebounding is one aspect of the game Marshall wants his team to improve on before the weekend.
Otago was out rebounded 54 34. Defensive rebounding was the main problem as Canterbury amassed 20 offensive boards. As a result, the Wildcats put up 75 shots - 15 more than Otago.
''They got a lot of offensive rebounds and that hurt us,'' Marshall said.
''That was a worry, but they were always going to challenge us because they go hard and are aggressive, and that showed us up a little bit.''
Marshall also wants his shooters to show more confidence when they have an open look. On too many occasions, players opted to pass or dribble when they had space.
''We have got girls that can shoot. That shot that Janet [Main] hit towards the end, to me, that won us the game,'' he said.
''We don't look for it [the shot] first, but we will get there.''
Goldrush v Wildcats
The scores
Otago Goldrush 67
Jillian Harmon 18, Aleisha Ruske 12, Janet Main 12
Canterbury Wildcats 61
Darcy Rose 16 points, Laken Wairau 13, Hayley Gray 9
Quarter scores: 1st, 18-13; 2nd, 31-27; 3rd, 47-42; 4th, 58-58.
