In 2012, Canada Basketball's Senior Women's National Team had almost no Olympic experience. They really weren't sure what to expect in London.

In 2012, Michelle Plouffe was relatively new to the SWNT. She was still finding her place at this level.

Today, the SWNT is stocked with veterans of major international competition. They head into the 2016 Summer Games with huge expectations of themselves.

Today, Michelle is one of the aforementioned SWNT veterans. She arrives in Rio expecting a lot of herself.

Team Canada's evolution mirrors that of Michelle, a 23-year-old from Edmonton who was still a teenager when the Canadians surprised many by reaching the quarterfinals at London 2012.

"That was my first year on the senior team," Michelle says. "Basically I was going from the senior team right to the Olympics, so it was a huge jump. It's going to be a completely different experience for me this time. I have different goals, our team has different goals, and it's just a different mindset going into these games than 2012."

Canada placed fifth at the 2014 World Championship then won gold last summer at both the Pan American Games and FIBA Americas Championship. At all three of those tournaments, Michelle played in every game.

"I'm definitely more of a contributor now than I was in 2012," says the six-foot-four forward, who concluded a stellar NCAA career at Utah in 2014 and has played professionally in France for the last two seasons.

"My game has grown and my basketball IQ has grown. I'm way more ready now than I was in 2012 to contribute to this team and bring what I can to each game. I'm more mature to handle whatever comes with that."

Michelle logged 11 minutes total at the London Olympics. She could very well surpass that during Canada's first game in Rio.

"Whether it's not playing at all, or playing a few minutes or playing a lot of minutes, I'm more able to adapt to the situation now than I was in 2012," Michelle continues.

"In 2012, we really didn't have any expectations of how far we could go in the tournament," she says. "Whereas this time around the mindset is more of: "Whatever we have to do to get on the podium, we'll do."

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