Italy's women need a drastic turnaround against Belgium on Wednesday after crashing to Slovakia in the opening round of the additional qualifying tournament for the EuroBasket Women.

The Azzurre fell behind early and were blown away 82-66 on Sunday but play their next game back in Italy.

"We hope that against Belgium we can show the right ambition and determination," said Italy coach Gianni Lambruschi to PA Sport.

"I think Italy can beat Belgium just as we can beat the Slovak Republic but it's just a question of proving it and convincing ourselves that it can be done."

Italy, who trailed 22-12 after the first quarter and 42-21 at half-time, turned the ball over 22 times in the defeat.

The Slovaks lost possession only 15 times.

While Lambruschi's team were five of 21 (23.8%) from three-point range, the Slovaks were six of 11 (54.5%).

Maybe the biggest factor in the result was the Slovaks' offensive execution. When the Slovaks were not making their attempts from the field, the Italian players were fouling. Slovakia buried 22 of 26 (84.%) from the line, compared to 13 of 18 (72%) for the Azzurre.

Lambruschi says minor knocks was also a factor.

"We hope that our players will be fit for the game as some of them have struggled with slight injuries," he said

Italy chances of qualifying for September's EuroBasket are slim with a total of 10 teams competing for the one remaining spot.

While Lambruschi would jump for joy if Italy do become that team, his main aim is for his players to gain experience.

"I have a young and inexperienced team," he said.

"We've got a lot of passion but we have to learn to use it to our advantage.

"At this time, we are only taking it step by step, we have no pressure but we want to be competitive by the time we host the European Championships in 2007."

Lambrouschi expects a better performance next time out.

In Sunday's defeat, Italy suffered from start to finish against the Slovaks.

"We've studied that game," he said.

"We really never got into it, we practically didn't play in the first 20 minutes and I don't think it was a question of their superiority or inferiority, it just seemed as though we never really left the changing rooms.

"Perhaps it was the nerves of our debut game but I certainly expect more, you cannot simply end up with a 16-point deficit as we did against the Slovak Republic."