PARIS (2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - If a team shows up in Nantes, France, for this month's FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT) and does not have a sense of urgency, it can forget claiming one of the five berths for the Rio de Janeiro Games.

The experienced sides will know this already, including the host nation. France had a sense of urgency when they travelled to the WOQT in Turkey four years ago and booked a trip to the London Games. They carried that same mindset to Britain and made it all the way to the Final, led by Celine Dumerc, before falling to the United States.

We're not yet feeling the pressure as the WOQT nears. But we're aware that following the conclusion of the tournament in Mondeville, we'll only have three days left to sort ourselves out. And that's when we'll be in the thick of things. - Dumerc

The "now or never" approach hasn't been with France since the start of their preparations for the WOQT but Dumerc, who is still a leader in the team, expects it to be evident after this week's warm-up games against Canada, China and Australia. First up will be a friendly on Tuesday against the Canadians, the winners of last year's FIBA Americas Women's Championship in Edmonton.

"The fact that we are meeting high-level teams such as Canada, China and Australia will allow us to face our problems so we can fix them before the Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the first match against Cuba on 13 June," Dumerc said on the French Basketball Federation (FFBB)'s website.

France will face Cuba and the New Zealand Tall Ferns in Group A and then, if they advance, either Argentina, Cameroon or Turkey in a Quarter-Final with the winner to advance to Rio. The loser of that Quarter-Final will have to win two more games at the WOQT to advance to Brazil.

"These three (friendly) games will give us a real idea of where we are," Dumerc said. "The situations in games are more revealing than those encountered in practice. We're not yet feeling the pressure as the WOQT nears. But we're aware that following the conclusion of the tournament in Mondeville, we'll only have three days left to sort ourselves out. And that's when we'll be in the thick of things."

France have consistently been among the top teams in the world since their EuroBasket Women 2009 title triumph. They finished third at the EuroBasket Women 2011 and were runners-up the last couple of times.

Meanwhile, France now have a squad of 13 players following the release of Charleville-Mezieres star Amel Bouderra.

FIBA