Beth Cunningham (basketball)

Beth Cunningham
Missouri State Lady Bears
Position	Head Coach
League	Missouri Valley Conference
Personal information
Born	June 5, 1975 (age 49); Greenville, Ohio, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight	150 lb (68 kg)
Career information
High school	Bloomington South; (Bloomington, Indiana)
College	Notre Dame (1993–1997)
Position	Shooting guard
Number	21
Coaching career	2001–present
Career history
As player:
1997–1998	Philadelphia Rage
2000	Washington Mystics
As coach:
2001–2003	VCU (assistant/assoc. HC)
2003–2012	VCU
2012–2020	Notre Dame (associate)
2020–2022	Duke (assistant)
2022–present	Missouri State
Career highlights and awards
	2x First-team All-Big East (1996, 1997);
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Women's Basketball
Representing the United States
World University Games
Pan American Games

Beth Cunningham (née Morgan; born June 5, 1975), is the head coach of the Missouri State women's basketball team.

Career

She was previously an associate head coach at Duke and Notre Dame and had been the women's basketball head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University and a former women's basketball player.

As Beth Morgan, she played for the University of Notre Dame, the Richmond Rage/Philadelphia Rage of the American Basketball League and the Washington Mystics of the WNBA before turning to coaching. She finished her playing career as one of the most decorated and top women's basketball players of all time.

She also played on the American teams in 1997 World University Games ^[1] and the 1999 Pan-American Games.^[2]

Cunningham ranked as number 1 on Notre Dame's all-time scoring list with 2,322 points, until surpassed by Skylar Diggins. Diggins had played 17 more games than Cunningham did at Notre Dame. During her career, Cunningham set or tied 28 school records. In her final two seasons, she was a first team all-Big-East selection.

Cunningham took over the VCU Rams for the 2003–2004 season after serving as assistant coach of the team for two years. During her playing days at Notre Dame (1993-97), Cunningham was a trailblazer, leading the program to its first NCAA Women's Final Four appearance and a 31-7 campaign in her senior season. She was a two-time Associated Press and WBCA honorable mention All-America choice, four-time first-team all-conference selection and two-year team captain. The Irish were 97-32 in her four seasons, including a pair of conference titles and three NCAA appearances. She departed as the all-time leading scorer in Fighting Irish women's basketball history with 2,322 points (which now ranks third), having set or tied 28 school records during her career.

She was also a fixture in USA Basketball circles as both a player and coach, first suiting up for Team USA four times from 1996-99 (winning three medals including a gold at the 1997 USA World University Games) and later serving as the athlete representative on the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee and the USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee.

Following her amateur career, Cunningham spent three seasons playing professional basketball, including two years with the Richmond/Philadelphia Rage of the American Basketball League (ABL) and one year with the WNBA's Washington Mystics in 2000 before embarking on her coaching career.

Her father, Bob Morgan, was the head baseball coach at Indiana University for 22 years before retiring in 2005.^[3]

Personal life

She married Dan Cunningham in 1998. Originally from Bloomington, Ind., Cunningham was a standout two-sport performer at Bloomington South High School, earning all-state honors in both basketball and tennis. She was inducted into the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame in June 2011. She graduated from Notre Dame in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the top-ranked Mendoza College of Business before going on to earn her Master’s degree in Sports Leadership from VCU in 2003.

Cunningham and her husband, Dan, have four children.^[4]

Career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

WNBA

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2000	Washington	21	0	9.4	25.0	24.3	84.2	1.0	0.6	0.1	0.0	0.6	2.8
Career	1 year, 1 team	21	0	9.4	25.0	24.3	84.2	1.0	0.6	0.1	0.0	0.6	2.8

Playoffs


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2000	Washington	2	0	6.5	50.0	25.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.5	3.5
Career	1 year, 1 team	2	0	6.5	50.0	25.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.5	3.5

College

Source^[5]

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1993–94	Notre Dame	29	518	46.8%	37.1%	78.6%	4.3	2.2	1.1	0.2	17.9
1994–95	Notre Dame	27	482	44.9%	38.1%	80.2%	4.1	1.6	1.4	0.2	17.9
1995–96	Notre Dame	31	626	46.1%	39.9%	85.4%	5.0	2.6	2.1	0.2	20.2
1996–97	Notre Dame	38	696	40.9%	32.6%	80.9%	6.1	2.6	1.7	0.1	18.3
Career		125	2322	44.4%	36.8%	81.4%	5.0	2.3	1.6	0.2	18.6

Head Coaching Record

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
VCU (Colonial Athletic Association) (2003–2012)
2003–04	VCU	14–14	10–8	T-4th
2004–05	VCU	11–18	6–12	7th
2005–06	VCU	13–15	6–12	9th
2006–07	VCU	17–13	9–9	6th
2007–08	VCU	26–8	13–5	T-3rd	WNIT 2nd Round
2008–09	VCU	26–7	15–3	2nd	NCAA 1st Round
2009–10	VCU	22–13	12–6	3rd	WNIT 1st Round
2010–11	VCU	19–12	13–5	4th	WNIT 1st Round
2011–12	VCU	19–15	9–9	6th	WNIT 3rd Round
VCU:		167–115 (.592)	93–69 (.574)
Missouri State (Missouri Valley Conference) (2022–present)
2022–23	Missouri State	20–12	14–6	T–4th	WNIT First Round
2023–24	Missouri State	23–10	15–5	3rd	WBIT First Round
Missouri State:		43–22 (.662)	14–6 (.700)
Total:		187–137 (.577)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Notes

^ "Eighteenth World University Games – 1993". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
^ "Thirteenth Pan American Games – 1999". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
^ "Head Coach Bob Morgan Resigns". University of Indiana. June 5, 2005. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 22 Oct 2013.
^ "Notre Dame to honor Beth Cunningham for impact on program".
^ "Notre Dame Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2017-09-08.

External links

[1997_WUG-1] "Eighteenth World University Games – 1993". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.

[1999_Pan_Am-2] "Thirteenth Pan American Games – 1999". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.

[Morgan_retires-3] "Head Coach Bob Morgan Resigns". University of Indiana. June 5, 2005. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 22 Oct 2013.

[4] "Notre Dame to honor Beth Cunningham for impact on program".

[5] "Notre Dame Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2017-09-08.

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