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It is a tall task ahead for Canada’s basketball women at the Olympics, but you have to beat great teams to be a great team and they are aware of the challenge ahead — and of the significance of the game.

Canada faces Spain in its final opening-round game in Tokyo on Sunday morning (9 p.m. ET, Saturday) and its dreams of winning an Olympic medal may be on the line.

A win would virtually assure the Canadian women (1-1) a spot in the quarterfinals Tuesday and give them a chance to at least equal their results in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Canada could advance even if it loses but that will bring into play tiebreakers based on point differential and results of games in other groups.

The easy route? Win.

The Canadians will have to match, and most likely improve upon, the effort that led to a 21-point win over Korea. They will need to defend as well as they did in that game and continue to get balanced scoring from a deep roster.

“We do have a team that’s filled with talent, and different people are going to have to step up on different occasions,” Canada coach Lisa Thomaidis said. “We certainly have our vets (but) … if we can get a couple of extras from some players off the bench, it’s always really important in tournaments like this.”

Spain has opened the Games with two wins, an unexpectedly narrow four-point victory over South Korea and an impressive 15-point rout of Serbia, which beat Canada. Spain’s offence is anchored by two WNBA players, centre Astou Ndour and small forward Alba Torrens, who have averaged 37.5 points per game between them.

The Spaniards are ranked No. 3 in the world, won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze at the 2018 World Cup. They registered victories over Canada in both events.

“They are a team that we played in the recent past, we’re really looking forward to this matchup, for sure,” Thomaidis said. “They’re a team that’s been on our radar for a while and we’ll be ready for them.”

Canada showed marked improvement from its openinggame loss to Serbia in its win over Korea, particularly on offence. WNBA stars Natalie Achonwa and Bridget Carleton had excellent scoring games against the Koreans, combining for 32 points, and they will have to match up well against Ndour and Torrens if Canada is to pull off the upset.

“It’s great to see us piece things together — things that we discussed in the meeting room — and apply them on the court,” Achonwa said after Wednesday night’s win.

It is that improvement that is behind the team’s confidence going into the game against Spain and, perhaps, into the quarterfinals.

“You’re always looking for those advantages, we were building off the momentum we created in the second half against Serbia and wanted to bring that forward (against Korea),” Thomaidis said. “Our goal is to play 40 minutes of Canadastyle basketball and I thought we got closer to that.

“So, certainly, you do have to find those things and ride the wave, so to speak, when you’re on a positive streak. And you have to find ways to forget about it if you’re on a downswing. And I think this team’s done a good job of that.”

A Canadian women’s basketball team has never won an Olympic medal.