She is nicknamed "the glue" of the Towson University women's basketball team.
 
Ryan Holder is a member of the history-making 2018-19 CAA Championship team, one of the seven players who checked in and held a ball during the title game.
 
She was the first player in program history to score points in the NCAA Tournament wearing Black and Gold.
 
Two seasons was her career at Towson after she spent her freshman year at UMass and a season at Maryland JUCO, Harford Community College. Holder is one of several seniors who will be celebrated this Sunday in the final home game of the regular season.
 
"I have a lot of emotions," Holder said. "For a while I was thinking 'I'm about to retire,' and I was excited but then continuing to think about it and how it's eventually coming to an end, I'm kind of sad. I am grateful for this experience, but I don't want it to end."
 
Holder, like teammate Mariah Gray, has family who went to Towson. Her brother, Emmanuel, played football for the Tigers from 2012-15. She graduated from Roland Park, she is Baltimore born and raised.
 
Her start in college hoops didn't begin at her local college just minutes down the road from her high school's campus, no, she started in the Atlantic 10 in New England.
 
At UMass Holder started in 25 of 30 games and averaged 9.8 points a night. After her freshman year she wanted a change and returned home to play at Harford.
 
"When I decided to leave UMass and ended up at Harford, Coach Richardson was actually the first coach to come and see me and talk to me," Holder said. "There were a couple coaches that came after her but she was like hell bent on having me here. I was talking to her or Coach Smith, our former assistant, at least once a week. I could feel that she wanted me to be part of this and when I came on my visit I felt like Towson was where I wanted to be, it went hand in hand."
 
Holder took the chance to continue playing nearby her home and family after finishing her year at Harford as the Maryland JUCO MVP and a Second Team All-American in NJCAA.
 
"It has been really special playing here," Holder said. "When I was in high school looking for schools I said I would never go to Towson because my brother went to Towson and I didn't want to be in his shadow. Then when I was at Harford and was looking at Towson I understood why he loved it and started to love it."
 
Coming to Towson has brought more than just a championship ring to Holder's collection.
 
In the 2019 she received the Robert Marchanti Endowed Scholarship, a scholarship awarded to a student-athlete honoring Maj. Marchanti and his commitment to leadership and excellence.
 
That being said, that Saturday in March last year in Newark, Delaware will always stand out to her.
 
"I honestly remember the last play of the game, when Melo (Kionna Jeter) stole the inbound pass before the buzzer went off and it was so surreal," she said. "It plays vividly in my head like the players on the bench, everyone is jumping, we're running into each other, there's confetti falling, everybody is happy, it's such a great memory. It was just so special it's always going to be one of the greatest moments of my life."
 
Head coach Diane Richardson has mentioned it before, Holder is the "glue" on the team. Often her line on the box score has the highest number on the +/- in the positive.
 
She may not drop double figures every night but she plays long minutes, with full effort, and has a huge impact on Towson's momentum during games.
 
"I just like to win, I hate losing," Holder said. "I really do, and I love playing with my team and I know how much they hate losing too. I think our shared desire to win, personally and for each other to win too, it makes us come together."
 
Before a game Holder likes to eat and get in a nap if she can. The rest of her pregame ritual is based on her mindset.
 
"A lot of the hustle aspect for me is mental. Making sure that I'm prepared for a game, knowing the scout, knowing what I need to do personally and not only to make myself better but my teammates better too. The coaches and Amit (Vohra) keep me in shape physically, but I think a lot of it is mental and making sure I can be the best me."
 
Only four games remain in the regular season for the Tigers and Holder. She does not know what's next but coaching may be in her future.
 
One thing is for sure, she is holding on to these last moments playing with this squad.
 
"I am really going to miss playing with my teammates," Holder said. "Especially Kiya (Nukiya Mayo), Q. (Murray) and Melo (Jeter), we really work as a system and no it's not always the perfect system, but we think alike, we know how to lift each other up. I know where they are on the court, I could tell you in an entire defensive sequence what all of them are and are not going to do, that bond we share. And not just them, with all my teammates, I'm going to miss them so much."
 
Holder has had a different path than some of her teammates to get where she is now, but she shows up each day with the same goal: to be the best and help her teammates get better. Last year Holder, Jeter, Mayo and Murray came together and did something previously unseen.
 
When reflecting on how to tell the future generations about what this experience has taught her, she sums it up pretty well.
 
"I think I'll try to paint the picture of how not every day is perfect and you're not going to be your best every day. You are not going to have your best day every day, but if you constantly work to be your best self, even if you fall short, then amazing things can happen. That's what happened last year, I know it's going to happen this year. Everyone isn't their best every day on this team, everyone doesn't always have a good day, but knowing that I am giving my best effort and my teammates and my coaches are there to pick me up, I think that's what makes special things happen. That's what I'll tell my kids, to keep a circle of people that want to see you be great and always be your best self."