Albany, N.Y. — Whenever Batouly Camara visits her home in Manhattan and attends a prayer service with her mother, she dons a hijab, the traditional head covering worn by Muslin women.

Camara, a 6-foot-2 redshirt sophomore for the UConn women's basketball team even has a Nike Pro Hijab, unveiled by Nike in December with the tag line, “sports is for everyone.” The Nike campaign featured fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, a fellow New Yorker who in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro became the first Muslim-American athlete to wear a hijab while competing for the United States in the Olympics.

It is why Camara, who is Muslim, chose to feature Muhammad as the UConn women's basketball players — via their team Facebook page — have chosen their women of inspiration throughout March, which is Women's History Month.

“It was very insightful,” Camara said of the exercise, “seeing the people my teammates chose, as well.”

Camara said Nike has “spearheaded something incredible,” the idea that women competing in a hijab could do so comfortably.

“I'm glad we had the opportunity to highlight that,” she said.

Other players' choices as heroes throughout women's history:

• Sophomore guard Crystal Dangerfield admires tennis great Serena Williams for her mental and physical strength when she competes, as well as the way she uses her celebrity as a platform to help her community, proving she's more than just an athlete.

• Napheesa Collier, UConn's junior forward, chose former Huskies' All-American Maya Moore for being “ambitious, competitive and driven.”

• Sophomore Molly Bent featured Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, “strong, hard working and compassionate.” Bent's 13-year-old sister Sarah has Down syndrome and is a Special Olympics competitor in basketball, soccer and track.

“She inspires me to fight for people like my sister,” Bent said in her Facebook tribute to Shriver. “Her efforts had a profound impact, so why can't mine?”

UConn assistant director of women's basketball administration Carley Mooney has been collecting the contributions from the players. The idea originated with assistant coach Marisa Moseley and senior Gabby Williams, Mooney said. The postings will continue every few days through the remainder of March.

“It's been cool to give the players an opportunity to talk about something they're not used to talking about, to learn what their thoughts are and why,” Mooney said.

Camara's mother, Fanta Kaba, originally hails from the West African nation of Guinea, which Camara visited for the first time last summer. Kaba wears the hijab at all times, Camara said.

“I've had some incredible support from my teammates,” Camara said Friday, as unbeaten and top-seeded UConn (34-0) prepared to take on No. 5 Duke in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA women's basketball tournament at the Times Union Center. “What (a hijab) is. What it stands for. Just being from a different upbringing. … It's a physical presence. It is very different.”

Camara, who sat out last season after transferring from Kentucky, has never worn a hijab while competing, although she posted a photograph on her Twitter page of her wearing a white head covering along with her home white No. 32 jersey.

“I could definitely see myself (wearing one) in the future,” she said.

Bent, meanwhile, also has a deeply personal connection to her woman of inspiration.

A 5-foot-9 guard from Centerville, Mass., Bent played basketball in high school for Tabor Academy, where she also helped found a program called Special Olympics Young Athletes, created for children ages 2-7. Bent said the initiative first drew only a handful of participants, but wound up helping more than 20 kids as the weeks progressed.

“I have a sister,” Bent said of Sarah, who she said will be at the games in Albany this weekend. “She has a lot of great qualities, tons of potential. I just thought, 'I'd like to make a change, large or small.'”

Shriver first began her idea of the Special Olympics in 1962 with a day camp she called Camp Shriver before the first International Special Olympics were held in Chicago in 1968.

Said Bent: “Just to be able to have that idea. 'I'm going to start it. I'm going to do something.'”

v.fulkerson@theday.com