At six-foot-seven, Lello Gebisa is the tallest woman to ever play basketball at the University of Wisconsin, but it wasn’t her height that landed her at UW.

Gebisa began her collegiate playing career at Duke University, one of the top basketball programs in the country. After receiving minimal playing time and a lack of opportunity to help her team succeed, she decided to transfer to UW at the conclusion of her sophomore season.

“After I decided I was transferring from Duke, I really wanted to play in the Big Ten,” Gebisa said. “The biggest factor was my sister; she had already decided to come here. She talked to the coaches and they gave me a call.”

The Gebisa sisters have been playing basketball together for most of their lives. Ebba, who is the Badger’s starting power forward in her sophomore year, has played an integral part in Lello’s development at UW.

“Lello and me both don’t take it for granted because we know it’s an experience that a lot of people don’t get,” Ebba said. “It’s just nice because she’s like my best friend and so it’s a lot of fun getting to spend time with her doing something we both love.”

After averaging just five points per game last season, Ebba has averaged nine points per game while playing alongside her sister. The addition of Lello has more than just improved Ebba’s scoring, however.

“I think she’s definitely added a lot to our team this year,” Ebba said. “She adds a lot of energy and enthusiasm. She’s always there every day ready to go and trying to get the team pumped up.”

Lello arrived at UW last year but was relegated to the practice squad in order to adhere to NCAA regulations, which requires all transfer athletes to sit out one season. Lello took the opportunity to acclimate herself to her new environment without having to worry about basketball.

“It’s a completely different atmosphere between a small private school and Wisconsin; even basketball is a different style of play,” Lello said. “I’ve had to adjust.”

Lello has adjusted well this season as she leads the team in rebounding with 6.4 per game and leads the Big Ten in blocks with 2.15 per game. She is also making nearly 50 percent of her field goal attempts while averaging 9.9 points per game.

“If you want to be a great player, you have to be good both offensively and defensively,” Lello said. “I think maybe I’ve been doing better offensively, but defense is something I work on every day. You have to have pride in your defense, and I do.”

Lello hasn’t always been the center of attention on the basketball court. Growing up she competed not only with her younger sister Ebba, but also with her older sister Kuleni.

“I think I started playing in the fifth grade,” Lello said. “My first year I played with my older sister, and she was a little taller then me at the time so I wasn’t the center.”

Since those youthful days, Lello and Ebba have been experiencing life as individuals as well as life in the presence of each other.

“We actually shared a room since we were basically babies up until my sophomore year of high school,” Lello said. “So we were kind of forced to be close.”

The closeness of these sisters resounds on the basketball court. Quick glances, hand slaps and gestures let each other know what the other is thinking, and as long as basketball is being played, fun is being had.

“We’ve played together a lot over the years,” Ebba said. “My freshman year [of high school], her junior year, was probably the most memorable year playing with her, because that was the year we won state together.”

With both sisters on the same team once more, the biggest problem may be confusing the six-foot-three Ebba with six-foot-seven Lello. Both have slender frames and equal complexions and the similarities can be abundant at a glance.

“I think it’s just a general thing that you call Ebba, Lello and Lello, Ebba sometimes,” head coach Jane Albright said. “They know what you mean; they don’t even correct us anymore.”

The confusion can extend off the court as well, where it can seem harder to distinguish the two without their jerseys on.

“One of my professors tracked her down in the hallway and started to talk to her about an exam we took,” Ebba said about a professor confusing Lello for herself. “She was really confused the whole time.”

The one lesson the Badgers have learned from all this is that it’s still better to have two Gebisa’s than one.

In 20 games at UW, Lello has had three double-doubles and scored her career high 23 points while grabbing 11 rebounds against Penn State. This came one game after she posted her first career double-double against San Francisco. Lello’s latest double-double came against Michigan, in a game that saw her sister Ebba have a double-double as well.

“I remember the very first day Lello had a real dominating practice, and you know, I had all these visions of wow,” Albright said. “The coaching staff talked and the gray headed man that sits beside of me said ‘it will be mid-January before we see that in a game.'”

Since mid-January, Lello is averaging over ten points and just less than three blocks per game. Her post moves have improved as the Badgers have started to look to her more offensively in the last month.

UW has, however, been counting on the center’s defensive skills all season long, letting opposing players penetrate and forcing them to deal with her long reach near the hoop. Against Ohio State she recorded a career high seven blocks and then two games later recorded six blocks against Iowa.

“Defensively, she leads us in blocks,” Albright said. “She’s a person that enables us to do some things defensively that we wouldn’t be able to do, because we have a second tier of defense.”

Lello has the same respect for her coach as her coach has for her. After transferring from one of the top-rated schools in the nation, Lello has admired the way Albright has handled this season’s losing.

“After a rocky start, some coaches may have lost confidence,” Lello said. “But every day she was there telling us we could do it; she never lost faith in us.”

The Badgers have won two games in a row for the first time all season, and it is due in large part to the play of Lello Gebisa. The once mild mannered Lello has brings the most energy to the Kohl Center floor night in and night out.

“When I played, I had an even keel,” Lello said of her youth. “I never showed any emotion, but I think that changed when I got to college.”

There are many things that have changed since Lello has come to UW, and it is her refreshing personality and genuine love for the game that will ultimately result in a positive outcome.