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Beth Cunningham (basketball)

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Beth Cunningham
Missouri State Lady Bears
PositionHead Coach
LeagueMissouri Valley Conference
Personal information
Born (1975-06-05) June 5, 1975 (age 49)
Greenville, Ohio, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight150 lb (68 kg)
Career information
High schoolBloomington South
(Bloomington, Indiana)
CollegeNotre Dame (1993–1997)
PositionShooting guard
Number21
Coaching career2001–present
Career history
As player:
1997–1998Philadelphia Rage
2000Washington Mystics
As coach:
2001–2003VCU (assistant/assoc. HC)
2003–2012VCU
2012–2020Notre Dame (associate)
2020–2022Duke (assistant)
2022–presentMissouri State
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Women's Basketball
Representing the  United States
World University Games
Gold medal – first place 1997 Marsala Team Competition
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Winnipeg Team Competition

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

Career

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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

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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

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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

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Regular season

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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

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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

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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

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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: 210–137 (.605)

      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

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  1. ^ "Eighteenth World University Games – 1993". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Thirteenth Pan American Games – 1999". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  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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