London Lions’ star forward Kiki Herbert-Harrigan has won the Molten WBBL Player of the Year award following a vote by WBBL head coaches and captains, as she was near unanimously a top three selection and top of four-fifths of the ballots.
The 24-year-old native of Anguilla joined the Lions in the summer having previously been a WNBA first round draft pick, representing the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm, and played in 24 WBBL games this season before departing for training camp with the Connecticut Sun ahead of the 2023 WNBA campaign.
With Lions already on a treble of WBBL Championship, WBBL Cup and WBBL Trophy, Herbert-Harrigan was second in the league in scoring with 18.7 points per game, showing her efficiency as she was first in three-point percentage at an eye-watering 46.6%, third in field goal percentage (52.0%) and third in free-throw percentage (80.5%), while adding five rebounds, an assist and a block each outing.
Most notably, she was MVP of the WBBL Trophy Final in March, breaking the record for the most points scored in a final as she poured in 33 in the 81-70 success over Leicester Riders at the Emirates Arena and live on Sky Sports. That came on 10-16 (62%) shooting from the field and 10-13 (76%) at the free-throw line as she scored eight in the decisive 14-2 third quarter burst that broke a tie and put Lions ahead for good. She had also scored 26 points on 9-13 (69%) shooting in the semi-final win over B. Braun Sheffield Hatters.
In her final game before leaving for WNBA training camp she scored 18 points with five rebounds and three assists as Lions beat second-placed Caledonia Gladiators 79-60 on the road to secure the WBBL Championship title. Her league-high performance came against Cardiff Met Archers in February when she amazingly had 29 points and seven rebounds in just 18 minutes, while in October she put up her only double-double of 22 points and 12 boards in a home win over perennial title rivals Sevenoaks Suns.
Herbert-Harrigan scored in double-figures in all three rounds of a tough WBBL Cup run that saw them play Hatters, Suns and Riders, with a team-high 19 points in January’s final at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, also live on Sky Sports.
She is the second Lions player to win this award, following Jo Leedham-Warner last season, while recently retired Cat Carr of Sevenoaks Suns remains the only player to have won it more than once.
A full record of votes can be found below:
| Voter | First Pick (three points) | Second Pick (two points) | Third Pick (one point) |
| Miguel Angel Ortega Marco (Caledonia Coach) | Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby | Holly Winterburn | Leslie Vorpahl |
| Erin McGarrachan (Caledonia Captain) | Karly Murphy | Holly Winterburn | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan |
| Stef Collins (Cardiff Coach) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Karly Murphy | Tea Adams |
| Shannon Hatch (Cardiff Captain) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Holly Winterburn | Karly Murphy |
| Lee Davie (Durham Coach) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Ashley Arlen | Holly Winterburn |
| Elle Hendershot (Durham Captain) | Karly Murphy | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Ashley Arlen |
| Ross Norfolk (Essex Coach) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Karly Murphy | Shannon Hatch |
| Andrea Kohlhaas (Essex Captain) | Karly Murphy | Araion Bradshaw | Shannon Hatch |
| Krumesh Patel (Leicester Coach) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Holly Winterburn | Shannon Hatch |
| Ashley Arlen (Leicester Captain) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Holly Winterburn | Karly Murphy |
| Stella Kaltsidou (London Coach) | Ashley Arlen | Karly Murphy | Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby |
| Shanice Beckford-Norton (London Captain) | Ashley Arlen | Shannon Hatch | Karly Murphy |
| Marg Jones (Manchester Coach) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Holly Winterburn | Ashley Arlen |
| Leah McDerment (Manchester Captain) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Karly Murphy | Oliana Squires |
| Noelia Cacheiro (Newcastle Coach) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Holly Winterburn | Karly Murphy |
| Marina Fernandez (Newcastle Captain) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Holly Winterburn | Oliana Squires |
| Kenrick Liburd (Nottingham Coach) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Holly Winterburn | Karly Murphy |
| Brae Ashton (Nottingham Captain) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Karly Murphy | Lauren Saiki |
| Tor Freeman (Oaklands Coach) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby | Holly Winterburn |
| Cassidy Gould (Oaklands Captain) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Ashley Arlen | Karly Murphy |
| Len Busch (Sevenoaks Coach) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Karly Murphy | Harriet-Ottewill Soulsby |
| Renee Busch (Sevenoaks Captain) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Tea Adams | Karly Murphy |
| Vanessa Ellis (Sheffield Coach) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Taylor Murray | Ashley Arlen |
| Helen Naylor (Sheffield Captain) | Kiki Herbert-Harrigan | Holly Winterburn | Ashley Arlen |