EKATERINBURG (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - The teams that occupy the top three spots in the FIBA Women's World Ranking all have one thing in common. They like to run.

When No. 1 USA and No. 2 Australia get out on the break, they usually come away with points and speed up the tempo of games, which is to their linking. Ditto for No. 3 Spain.

Coach Lucas Mondelo wants his players to run at every opportunity and for good reason. He has stars like Alba Torrens in the lineup.

Torrens (ESP) likes the ball in her hands

Spain ran and ran and ran at the 2014 FIBA Women's World Championship in Turkey and made it all the way to the Final. Torrens, who made the All-Star Five in that competition, averaged 15.5 points per game.

Her finest hour was the 66-56 victory over Turkey in the Semi-Finals. She finished with 28 points in that contest.

There was also plenty of high-octane Torrens at last year's EuroBasket Women in Hungary. She was even more explosive, too, averaging more than 19ppg.

Torrens is now hoping that she's going to be able to shift into overdrive for Spain at the Rio de Janeiro Games. To do so, the national team will have to claim one of the five berths to Brazil that will be up for grabs at the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT) in Nantes, France, an event to be staged 13-19 June.

"It's a big goal for us," she said to FIBA.com.

It was one of the best experiences of my life, the Olympic Games. Right now, it's a dream to get there again but it's true that it's a hard road to get there. But we will fight for it. - Torrens

If Spain are first or second in Group D of the WOQT after taking on China and Venezuela, they would reach Rio with a win in their next game against Belarus, Korea or Nigeria. A loss in that contest would leave Spain needing two more victories to qualify for the Olympics.

Spain (ESP) may have to scrap with Belarus at the WOQT

When Spain played at the Olympics in 2008, they did so after hosting the WOQT in Madrid and claiming one of the five spots available there. Though her first WOQT was eight years ago, Torrens remembers very well how competitive the tournament was.

After blowing out Fiji in their first game, Spain only scraped a 71-68 victory over Brazil. Cuba then pushed them hard in their next game but Spain did enough to win, 82-68, to book a spot in the China Olympics.

Though Spain have a lofty world ranking compared to China (No. 8), Venezuela (No. 31), Belarus (No. 10), Korea (No. 12) and Nigeria (No. 42), Torrens says she and teammates will be taking nothing for granted.

"Maybe people think that but we know how hard it will be there," she said.

We know what it takes to be at an Olympic Games and we want to be ready for that. But of course, we're not looking at the Olympic Games. We're looking at the qualifications. - Torrens

FIBA