'She's the glue'; Bison senior guard Abby Schulte leads NDSU back to Summit League Tournament

In fact, she relishes it.

“It's something kind of about my personality, something, who I've always kind of been. Somebody who does a little bit of the dirty work, but also keeps the team together. And I take a lot of pride in being able to do that for my team.” Schulte said.

The 5-foot-10 senior guard from Maple Grove, Minnesota just started her 100th career game for the Bison last Saturday in a loss at South Dakota State.

Schulte has seen everything over the past four years. Plenty of losses, players and coaches coming and going, and right next to Heaven Hamling, Schulte has been there the entire time. She was thrust into the starting lineup early in her freshman year and hasn’t left.

“I thought I was prepared for it and ready to go. But obviously, there's things that you just learn. And luckily, I was surrounded by really good players and Jory (Collins) obviously helped me along the way, but it was something really exciting. And I took very seriously and happy I was able to do that.”

Collins remembers his recruitment of Schulte fondly.

“We were combing and looking for players all over the place. She had that versatility. She was a very good on ball defender and committed defensively was what I liked. And then I thought her straight line athleticism was really good.”

Schulte may not be the best player on the Bison, but she may be the most important player.

“She is the glue. She keeps older players, younger players, everything in between that you need to meld that together. I mean, she does that at a high level.” Collins added.

“I take a lot of pride in that, it's something kind of about my personality, something who I've always kind of been. Somebody who does a little bit of the dirty work, but also keeps the team together. I take a lot of pride in being able to do that for my team.”

Schulte averages seven points per game but her value comes on the defensive side of the court. She routinely is put on the best player of the opposing team and it’s her job to try and shut her down.

The second half of this season has seen Schulte become more of an offensive player. Five of the last eight games, Schulte has scored in double-figures, twice scoring 15 points, including against North Dakota on Feb. 24.

All the while NDSU has enjoyed its best season in the Division I era. The Bison head to Sioux Falls and the Summit League Tournament as the two seed and will face Denver Saturday at 12:30.

Last year the Bison lost in the opening round of the tournament to seventh-seeded Kansas City.

“It's not something that we dwell on or the team that have been here dwelling on, but it's definitely, something I keep in the back of my mind. I do not want that to happen again and that feeling.”

Schulte has used the term relentless with this year’s Bison. A fact that has been evident on the floor this season.

“I would say I'm not here to give up. I came here and there were ups and downs in the program. I'm here to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And that's what this team is, and we can see it now.”

She’s also imagined what it could be like if NDSU were to reach the Summit League championship game, something that hasn’t happened since the Bison joined the conference.

“I mean, it would be huge, but we know that that's not ultimately our goal. It's to win it and so I think just having the extra adrenaline energy, that kind of thing to go into that game and give it all we have, like truly all we have to win. I think that's where we'll be.”