The Borussia Dortmund women's handball team closed out the group stage of the EHF Champions League with a convincing 32-24 (17-12) win over Danish team Odense. The Black & Yellows end the group stage in seventh place -but that was already set in stone before Sunday afternoon's game in the Helmut Körnig Halle.

Sunday's game between Ramnicu Valcea and Brest Bretagne did not take place and the Romanians were awarded 2:0 points, which meant the Black & Yellows knew before their meeting with Odense Håndbold that they would finish seventh in the group. Before the start of the game held at the Helmut Körnig Halle on Sunday afternoon, coach André Fuhr's team also knew who they will face in the play-offs in March - French outfit Klub Metz Handball, who finished second in Group A. 

The Black & Yellows seemed unbothered by the fact little was at stake and put their Danish opponents to the sword from the very first minute. In the fourth minute, after Isabell Roch made an excellent save to deny Lois Abbingh, Jennifer Gutiérrez Bermejo applied the finishing touches to a counter-attack to give BVB a 3-2 lead in the fourth minute. An impressive showing from the BVB defence and some strong saves from goalkeeper Roch gave BVB a 6-3 lead in the eighth minute and forced Odense into taking their first time-out. 

The Black & Yellows didn't take their foot off the gas and continued to deliver a focused performance. After a goal conceded, Kelly Dulfer threw the ball into the empty goal of the visitors, who had taken off their goalkeeper in attack, to bring the score to 10-6 (14). Further saves from Isabell Roch and nice assists to Merel Freriks, who either scored herself or forced fouls, helped increase the home team's lead to 12-7 (18).

BVB's perimeter play continued to work well when André Fuhr gave Freriks a breather and brought Clara Monti Danielsson on in her place. Dortmund continued to build on their lead: Kelly Dulfer scored on the counter in the 20th minute to make it 15-8. The Black & Yellows continued to perform well until the half-time whistle and went into the dressing room with a well-deserved 17-12 lead. 

The balance of power remained unchanged after the break: Borussia stood firm in defence, Isabell Roch kept making saves and the attacking players continued taking their chances. The scoreboard kept ticking away, and by the 40th minute the Black & Yellows were up by 26-17. Everything was going well for the Dortmund women on this Sunday afternoon. It was not until five minutes before the final whistle - with the score at 29-22 - that André Fuhr took his first time-out of the game. BVB fought hard all the way to the end of their final group game in the Champions League and ultimately defeated Odense 32-24.

''We played really well today, both in defence and attack,'' said coach André Fuhr after the game, adding: ''That was a good game for our confidence.'' The team will go into their next game in high spirits. BVB are next in action on Wednesday, when they travel to play HSG Bensheim/Auerbach in the Bundesliga. 

BVB women's handball team: Duijndam, Roch, ten Holte; van der Heijden (2), van Zijl (2), Smits (7/4), Abdulla (2/2), Stockschläder (1), Freriks (5), Dulfer (2), Rode, Bleckmann, Vollebregt (6), Gutiérrez Bermejo (3), Danielsson (2)