Spain didn't thrash the competition at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women, but they did enough to earn a second straight trip to the Olympics.

Coach Evaristo Perez, who made the bold decision to include a host of youngsters in this year's squad like

There was no crying in Madrid, as the Spanish reached their goal of a trip to Beijing.

Alba Torrens, Laura Nicholls, Tamara Abalde and Silvia Dominguez, went with the veterans when it counted and they rewarded him with an 82-68 quarter-final win over Cuba to clinch a place at the Beijing Games.

Veteran point guard Elisa Aguilar erupted for 17 of her game-high 28 points in the second half to fire Spain to victory.

The performance, which saw Aguilar hit six of her team's seven three-pointers in the game, caught the Cubans by surprise because the same player had only made two of 10 shots from the floor overall in the 71-68 defeat to Brazil two days before.

Aguilar didn't lose her confidence, nor her sense of humour.

"On Wednesday against Brazil, I could have shot at a swimming pool and I wouldn't have gotten a shot in but against Cuba, they went in," she said.

The Spanish are not the tallest team, but as last year's EuroBasket Women MVP Amaya Valdemoro likes to say, they make up for it with heart.

And there was plenty of that on show against the Cubans, who had been so impressive in their dismantling of Belarus two days before.

Alberto Zabala's team trailed 37-35 in the final minute of the second quarter but Spain emerged from the locker room with a more determined look and a quicker step.

A Valdemoro jump shot and an Anna Montanana lay-up opened an eight-point lead.

The closest Cuba would get the rest of the way was 52-46.

"We knew that if we could keep our level for 40 minutes, it would be impossible for them to beat us," Aguilar said.

The mood was far more celebratory than after the EuroBasket Women final last year, when Spain came so close to knocking off Russia but lost.

After that game, Valdemoro cried on the shoulder of Spain Basketball Federation president José Luis Saez.

In a photo of that moment, you can almost see the confidence in Saez's eyes.

It was as if he knew that Spain would finish the job of reaching Beijing via the qualifying tournament.

"This success proves the great moment of Spanish basketball," Saez said.

"The girls deserve it and this is the reward for all their great work.

"We knew it was going to be hard because Cuba is a great team but in the end, our efforts paid off.

"It is something to be proud of to have both our men and women's team for the second consecutive time having qualified for an Olympic Games."