| Beth Cunningham | |
| League: | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Team: | Missouri State Lady Bears |
| Position: | Head Coach |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 0 |
| Weight Lb: | 150 |
| Birth Date: | 5 June 1975 |
| Birth Place: | Greenville, Ohio, U.S. |
| High School: | Bloomington South (Bloomington, Indiana) |
| College: | Notre Dame (1993–1997) |
| 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 |
| Highlights: |
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Beth Cunningham (Morgan; born June 5, 1975), is the head coach of the Missouri State women's basketball team.
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]
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]
|-| 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
|-| 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
Source[5]
| 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 |