Beth Cunningham (basketball)

{{Short description|American basketball player and coach (born 1975)}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Beth Cunningham

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| league = Missouri Valley Conference

| team = Missouri State Lady Bears

| position = Head Coach

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 0

| weight_lb = 150

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|6|5}}

| birth_place = Greenville, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| high_school = Bloomington South
(Bloomington, Indiana)

| college = Notre Dame (1993–1997)

| career_start =

| career_end =

| career_position = Shooting guard

| career_number = 21

| coach_start = 2001

| years1 = 1997–1998

| team1 = Philadelphia Rage

| years2 = 2000

| team2 = Washington Mystics

| cyears1 = 2001–2003

| cteam1 = VCU (assistant/assoc. HC)

| cyears2 = 2003–2012

| cteam2 = VCU

| cyears3 = 2012–2020

| cteam3 = Notre Dame (associate)

| cyears4 = 2020–2022

| cteam4 = Duke (assistant)

| cyears5 = 2022–present

| cteam5 = Missouri State

| highlights =

As player:

2x First-team All-Big East (1996, 1997)

As coach:

MVC regular season champion (2025)
MVC Coach of the Year (2025)

| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Women's Basketball}}

{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}

}}

Beth Cunningham ({{nee}} 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 Summer Universiade{{cite web|title=Eighteenth World University Games – 1993|url=http://www.usab.com/history/world-university-games-womens/eighteenth-world-university-games-1997.aspx|publisher=USA Basketball|accessdate=12 October 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150907193900/http://www.usab.com/history/world-university-games-womens/eighteenth-world-university-games-1997.aspx | archive-date =7 September 2015|url-status=dead}} and the 1999 Pan American Games.{{cite web|title=Thirteenth Pan American Games – 1999|date=June 10, 2010|url=http://www.usab.com/history/pan-am-womens/thirteenth-pan-american-games-1999.aspx|publisher=USA Basketball|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928183613/http://www.usab.com/history/pan-am-womens/thirteenth-pan-american-games-1999.aspx|archive-date=28 September 2015|url-status=dead|accessdate=15 October 2015}}

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 2003–04 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.{{cite web|last=|first=|date=June 5, 2005|title=Head Coach Bob Morgan Resigns|url=http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/070805aad.html|work=University of Indiana|publisher=|accessdate=22 Oct 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023061116/http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/070805aad.html|archive-date=23 October 2013|url-status=dead}}

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.{{cite web | url=https://www.ndinsider.com/story/sports/womens-basketball/2017/01/27/otre-dame-to-honor-beth-cunningham-for-impact-on-program/46012521/ | title=Notre Dame to honor Beth Cunningham for impact on program }}

Career statistics

=WNBA=

==Regular season==

| align="left" | 2000

| align="left" | Washington

|21||0||9.4||25.0||24.3||84.2||1.0||0.6||0.1||0.0||0.6||2.8

| align="left" | Career

| align="left" | 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==

| align="left" | 2000

| align="left" | Washington

|2||0||6.5||50.0||25.0||0.0||0.0||0.0||0.5||0.0||0.5||3.5

| align="left" | Career

| align="left" | 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{{Cite web|url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nd/sports/w-baskbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/history-and-records.pdf|title=Notre Dame Media Guide|website=|access-date=2017-09-08|archive-date=2017-09-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921223652/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nd/sports/w-baskbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/history-and-records.pdf|url-status=dead}}

class="wikitable"

!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

{{CBB Yearly Record Start | type=coach | conference= |postseason=}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

|name=VCU

|startyear=2003

|conference=Colonial Athletic Association

|endyear= 2012

|}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2003–04

| name = VCU

| overall = 14–14

| conference = 10–8

| confstanding = T-4th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2004–05

| name = VCU

| overall = 11–18

| conference = 6–12

| confstanding = 7th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2005–06

| name = VCU

| overall = 13–15

| conference = 6–12

| confstanding = 9th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2006–07

| name = VCU

| overall = 17–13

| conference = 9–9

| confstanding = 6th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2007–08

| name = VCU

| overall = 26–8

| conference = 13–5

| confstanding = T-3rd

| postseason = WNIT 2nd Round

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2008–09

| name = VCU

| overall = 26–7

| conference = 15–3

| confstanding = 2nd

| postseason = NCAA 1st Round

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2009–10

| name = VCU

| overall = 22–13

| conference = 12–6

| confstanding = 3rd

| postseason = WNIT 1st Round

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2010–11

| name = VCU

| overall = 19–12

| conference = 13–5

| confstanding = 4th

| postseason = WNIT 1st Round

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2011–12

| name = VCU

| overall = 19–15

| conference = 9–9

| confstanding = 6th

| postseason = WNIT 3rd Round

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = VCU

| overall ={{Winning percentage|167|115|record=y}}

| confrecord ={{Winning percentage|93|69|record=y}}

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

|name=Missouri State

|startyear=2022

|conference=Missouri Valley Conference

|endyear=

|}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2022–23

| name = Missouri State

| overall = 20–12

| conference = 14–6

| confstanding = T–4th

| postseason = WNIT First Round

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 2023–24

| name = Missouri State

| overall = 23–10

| conference = 15–5

| confstanding = 3rd

| postseason = WBIT First Round

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2024–25

| name = Missouri State

| overall = 26–9

| conference = 16–4

| confstanding = T–1st

| postseason = WBIT Second Round

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Missouri State

| overall = {{Winning percentage|69|31|record=y}}

| confrecord = {{Winning percentage|45|16|record=y}}

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record End

|overall ={{Winning percentage|236|146|record=y}}

}}

Notes

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20080115194707/http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/wspors98.html Notre Dame magazine article featuring Morgan]
[http://vcurams.vcu.edu/wbb/0607bios/coaches/cunningham.htm VCU Biography]

{{2018 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball navbox}}{{Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year navbox}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Beth}}

Category:1975 births

Category:Living people

Category:American women's basketball coaches

Category:American women's basketball players

Category:Basketball coaches from Indiana

Category:Basketball coaches from Ohio

Category:Basketball players at the 1999 Pan American Games

Category:Basketball players from Ohio

Category:Duke Blue Devils women's basketball coaches

Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball coaches

Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball players

Category:Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball)