The Canadian women's basketball team closed out preliminary round play Tuesday by dropping a 56-47 decision to France at the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament in Ankara, Turkey.

Despite the loss, Canada is still a virtual lock to reach the quarter-finals at the 12-team qualifier.

Canada crushed Mali 89-23 in its Group D opener Monday. Canada would only be eliminated from the next round if Mali posted a huge blowout win over France on Wednesday.

France jumped out to a 16-3 lead over Canada and led 21-11 after the opening quarter. Canada shot a woeful 23 per cent from the field.

"We really battled hard tonight against a very good team in France," said head coach Allison McNeill. "When we cut the lead to six points I thought we had a chance to pull through, but we just didn't make enough shots and our shooting percentage showed it."

Tamara Tatham of Brampton, Ont., and Shona Thorburn of Hamilton, Ont., scored seven points apiece for Canada. Krista Phillips of Saskatoon added eight rebounds and six points.