Kristen McNab is getting more comfortable at the next level.
In her second season with the Medicine Hat College Rattlers women’s basketball team, the 5-foot-7 shooting forward has caught up to the demands of Alberta Colleges Athletic Association play.
The Cochrane High School Cobras Class of 2013 grad was in Calgary Nov. 28, on the floor in ACAC play against Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Trojans. She was named Medicine Hat’s player of the game in an 67-47 loss to SAIT. She picked up seven points on 3-for-6 shooting from the field and a single from the charity stripe.
“Pretty good. We’ve been struggling a little first semester,” she says of a Rattlers side currently fifth in the ACAC South Division with a 5-7 record. “But I think we’ve been progressing so hopefully we’ll win some more games next semester.”
That candid assessment is a clear sign McNab, the eldest daughter of Cochrane High School football and basketball coach Rob McNab, is growing into her role with the Rattlers. She’s become more comfortable with her surroundings in the Gas City and on ACAC floors across the province.
“I really like it,” McNab, the player, relates. “It’s nice being a second-year because you know how the game goes and you know what to expect.”
She’s expected to get up and down the floor quickly and work hard at each end.
“Just like being an outlet for the point guard and look to score from the wing,” she says of her offensive game. “Get in the open gaps.”
Then the 19-year-old has to hustle back and shut down her end of the court.
“Play good defence,” she continues. “My defence has been fairly good this season.”
And she’s still drawing from her high school experience to aid in her success at the next level. Playing for Cobras head coach Randy Peron, who teaches NBA-grade defences with colourful names like “Freak” and “Wall,” has prepared McNab for the rigours of college ball.
And she still relies on that sweet stroke she employed as a senior lighting up high-school gym scoreboards.
“I just think from high school I was depended on to score,” McNab says. “So now I know how to score. Whereas if I hadn’t learned how to score I’d still kind of hesitate and not know what to do.
“It’s going really well.”
