WNBL star Gabe Richards is in line to make her world championship debut for Australia after earning a late call-up to replace injured centre Liz Cambage.
The 29-year-old left for Turkey on Monday to join the Opals ahead of their opening group match against Cuba on Saturday.
Richards has been one of the domestic competition's most dominant players for the past two seasons, having helped the Bendigo Spirit to back-to-back championships.
While still reeling from the loss of Cambage, who tore her Achilles in last Friday's warm-up defeat to the USA, Opals coach Brendan Joyce said Richards was deserving of the chance to take her place in the team.
"At 29, Gabe may have thought her chances of representing her country in a world championship were gone, but that's one area we have really focused on with the program," Joyce said.
"We've recognised these mature-age players who we believe can contribute to the team and translate their form from the WNBL on to the world stage, and Gabe is a glowing example."
Australia will be without their two best players for the women's basketball tournament in Cambage and key veteran Lauren Jackson, who's also sidelined with injury.
Their preparations took another hit on Sunday, having suffered a tough 76-70 loss to China in the last of three warm-up games in Paris.
Penny Taylor was left to shoulder the load - and turned out a vintage performance, posting a team-high 17 points, four rebounds and four steals to nearly get them home.
The Opals trailed by 15 points midway through the third quarter, only for Taylor to trigger an 11-3 fourth-quarter run to make sure the result went down to the wire.
A spectacular four-point play from Erin Phillips had the scores at 72-70 with 27 seconds remaining, but China were able to ice the game with tight defence and clutch free-throw shooting.
"It's a true reflection of this team that even down 11 points with a little over three minutes to go they believed the game was there for the taking," Joyce said.
Joyce said he was pleased with his team's Paris trip - pointing to the high level of competition as a great guide for what the Opals will face in Turkey.
"This tournament was exactly the type of high quality hit out we were after this close to the world championships," he said.
"We played three powerhouse teams of women's basketball in three days, which provided a great opportunity for all of the players to test themselves in and assimilate to a similar schedule to what awaits us in Turkey."
After Cuba on September 27, the Opals face South Korea and Belarus in their other group fixtures.
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