Mikiah Herbert Harrigan optimizes her time in Phoenix Mercury’s starting lineup

Making just her second career start, Herbert Harrigan scored a career-high 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field. She also added two rebounds, two steals and two blocks in her 25 minutes of play.

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“Every time I get to the gym, I see Kiki putting in the work,” Mercury guard Kahleah Copper told reporters postgame. “… You put in the work, the game will reward you. Just shout out to her because I know how hard it is to, you know, just wait on your moment. So I think she’s done that. She’s been humble. She’s constantly worked on her game. So you know, this is preparation meeting opportunity for her. So she’s going out there, and [I’m] just giving her the confidence.”

Herbert Harrigan’s opportunity in the starting lineup comes with guard Diana Taurasi out with a lower left leg injury. Despite averaging just 8.5 minutes per game this season prior to Sunday, Herbert Harrigan made her first career start and played 29 minutes against the Los Angeles Sparks.

In Phoenix’s dramatic 84-78 win in Los Angeles, Herbert Harrigan hit what head coach Nate Tibbetts called the biggest shot of the game. With 1:10 remaining, center Brittney Griner picked up a double team on the left block. She kicked it out to a wide-open Herbert Harrigan on the wing, who knocked down the three and put the Mercury up two points. It was the only 3-point shot Herbert Harrigan made on four attempts. Phoenix never trailed the rest of the game. 

“I kind of gave Kiki a hard time. She had some bad misses in that fourth,” Tibbetts told reporters postgame Sunday. “But she hit the biggest shot of the game, and she was willing to take it and BG was willing to throw it to her. You know, we’ve got the Noah system that tracks all the shooting that all of our players do, and [Herbert Harrigan’s] the one that gets the most shots up. And so, you know, just for her, you know, just believing in your work. She’s a good shooter. She just hasn’t been in this situation a lot. And so for her to get this opportunity to make a shot like that, really happy for her to have this experience.”

Wednesday, back in the starting lineup, Herbert Harrigan expanded on Sunday’s performance. Not only did she contribute on the offensive end, but she also started the game with one of the tougher defensive assignments in Dallas forward Natasha Howard. 

The last time Phoenix and Dallas met on July 3, Howard torched the Mercury for a career-high 36 points. Wednesday with Herbert Harrigan in the mix, Howard scored 10 in the first quarter — but just nine the rest of the game.

“Shout out to Kiki, she really stepped up,” Tibbetts said. “We put her in the starting lineup — or actually kept her in the starting lineup — because we wanted her to go to Howard. Obviously, we were in some switches with players down. We wanted to not have [guard Natasha Cloud] wrestling with a four, right? A post-up four. And so I thought Kiki did a good job of being physical and making her work, especially in the last few quarters.”

“I always took a lot of pride in my defense back from college,” Herbert Harrigan told the media postgame Wednesday. “Like, I love blocking shots and that type of stuff, so just locking in on the defensive end knowing that the offense will come.”

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Like many young players, Herbert Harrigan’s career has been filled with turmoil since her rookie season in 2020. Herbert Harrigan was drafted sixth overall by the Minnesota Lynx in 2020 with whom she played 21 games. The Lynx traded her to the Seattle Storm prior to the 2021 season, in which she only played one game due to pregnancy. Upon returning to the league, Herbert Harrigan was waived in the Storm’s last round of cuts before the 2022 season and waived by the Connecticut Sun during training camp in 2023. Now, with Phoenix, she’s taking advantage of every opportunity in front of her.

“I mean, it feels amazing,” Herbert Harrigan said. “My journey in the W hasn’t been the easiest. So I mean, just coming here and finding the place that I fit in. My teammates are amazing, they just pour so much into everybody, so it’s very supportive. So I really appreciate that.”

“Everyone on our bench, I’ve been at that point in my career,” Copper told reporters Sunday. “So I know how hard it is. I know, I understand that the margin of error is very small when you come off the bench. I know how your confidence can feel. I know you know how you just next man up, and it’s hard. It’s hard to come off the bench. It’s hard to always be ready. So I just told her ‘Be confident.’ You put in the work every single day, and you got put in the starting lineup for a reason. So go out there and do what you do.”