The Phoenix Mercury went into Sunday’s contest in Los Angeles down two starters. Diana Taurasi (left lower leg) and Bec Allen (lower back) both missed the Mercury’s battle against the Sparks, forcing Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts to adjust and get creative with his lineups.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Tibbetts did exactly that and found an unsung hero in the form of Mikiah Herbert Harrigan.
“Good teams, it’s about culture, it’s about work, and it’s about trust,” said Tibbetts. “I kind of gave Kiki a hard time, she had some bad misses in that fourth [quarter]. But she hit the biggest shot of the game. And she was willing to take it. And Brittney [Griner] was willing to throw it to her.”
In the first start of her WNBA career, Harrigan scored six points, collected three rebounds, and recorded two blocks and one steal.
She found minutes closing the game, and missed a 3-pointer and a layup down the stretch. But her confidence never wavered.
Harrigan hit a huge 3-pointer with 1:10 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Phoenix a two-point lead, and looked comfortable playing some of the most meaningful minutes of her career.
“In the game when she missed a couple of shots, I went to go to her, BG grabbed her before I could,” said Mercury guard Natasha Cloud. “BG instills confidence in her, gets double-teamed, then throws it right back out to her for the biggest shot of the game.
“Kiki’s been working her ass off this entire season, even though she started off with a few misses,” Cloud added. “To be able to step into that shot so confidently, it’s just a testament to her and her work ethic, but also the leadership that we have on this team too.”
Harrigan might not be a main stay in Phoenix’s lineup, but performances like these prove that players like her play valued roles for their teams. Harrigan was called upon when the injury bug hit, and delivered in the absence of Taurasi and Allen.
She hit the biggest shot of the game, and it’s a moment that she’s worked for all season.
“We’ve got the Noah System that tracks all of the shooting that all of our players do. She’s the one that gets the most shots up,” Tibbetts said. “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.
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Justin LaCertosa covers Phoenix Sports News for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @LaCertosaSports
