Missouri State

Beth Cunningham was introduced as Missouri State's ninth women's basketball head coach on March 31, 2022.

In year three at the helm of the Lady Bears, Cunningham was named Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year after leading her squad to a 26-9 overall record and a share of the MVC regular-season title with a 16-4 record in league play. The title marked the first regular-season championship of Cunningham's career as a head coach. Cunningham secured an eighth-straight 20-win season for the program and the Lady Bears made their 10^th consecutive postseason appearance with a WBIT bid for the second year in a row. MoState hosted the first two rounds of the WBIT, earning a dominant 31-point victory over Oral Roberts before falling to eventual WBIT champion Minnesota, 78-71, in round two.

Cunningham’s squad earned multiple postseason awards, led by senior and second-year point guard Lacy Stokes. Stokes was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year in addition to earning All-MVC first-team recognition and landing on the MVC All-Defensive and All-Tournament teams. Sophomore Kaemyn Bekemeier was named the MVC Sixth Player of the Year, marking the second year in a row the Lady Bears took home the award. Senior Sarah Linthacum and freshman Lainie Douglas also earned spots on the MVC All-Newcomer and MVC All-Freshman teams, respectively.

Year two under Cunningham saw the Lady Bears finish 23-10 overall and place third in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season standings with a 15-5 league record, securing a seventh-straight 20-win season for the program. Cunningham led her squad to the MVC Tournament championship game, and after coming up a few seconds short of the conference tournament title, the Lady Bears made their ninth consecutive postseason appearance with a bid to the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT).

For the second consecutive season, Cunningham plugged in an immediately impactful player at the point guard position, this time in the form of DII transfer Lacy Stokes. Stokes was named the MVC Newcomer of the Year after tying the MVC single-season record with nine MVC Newcomer of the Week awards throughout the season. The junior also earned second-team all-conference honors and was placed on both the MVC All-Defensive and All-Newcomer teams. Junior Kennedy Taylor also secured all-conference honors with a spot on the third team for the second consecutive year, and she was named the MVC’s Sixth Player of the Year - becoming the first Lady Bear to win the award since its inception in 2015.

In her first season at the helm of the Lady Bears program in 2022-23, Cunningham led her team to a 20-12 overall record, which secured MSU’s sixth-straight 20-win season, and an eighth consecutive postseason appearance with a WNIT bid. Missouri State continued its history of dominance on the boards, ranking inside the top 30 nationally in three categories: eighth in offensive rebounds per game (16.2), 10^th in rebound margin (+8.9) and 26^th in total rebounds per game (41.5).

The Lady Bears finished fifth in the MVC regular season standings with a 14-6 conference record. Cunningham’s squad boasted two all-conference selections in Aniya Thomas (Second-Team All-MVC, MVC All-Defensive Team, MVC All-Newcomer Team) and Kennedy Taylor (Third-Team All-MVC, MVC All-Newcomer Team), while Jade Masogayo was named the league’s Freshman of the Year and landed on the MVC All-Freshman team.  

Cunningham, who owns an impressive 20-year collegiate coaching resume, arrived in Springfield from Duke University, where she spent two seasons as an assistant coach on coach Kara Lawson's staff. Prior to her stint at Duke, she spent eight seasons (2012-20) as an associate head coach at Notre Dame for Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw. She was part of one of the best stretches in NCAA women’s history as Notre Dame compiled a 244-19 record in that span with seven straight 30-win seasons, six conference titles, five NCAA Final Four appearances and the 2018 National Championship. The Irish followed that up with a runner-up finish in the 2019 NCAA Championship, finishing the year with the No. 1 scoring offense in the country (88.6 points per game).
 
Before returning to her alma mater in the summer of 2012, Cunningham spent 11 years on the coaching staff at VCU, including one year as an assistant coach (2001-02), one as associate head coach (2002-03) and nine seasons as head coach starting in 2003-04. She is the Rams’ all-time leader in women’s basketball coaching wins with a 167-115 (.592) record and postseason appearances in each of her final five seasons. From 2008-12, VCU averaged better than 22 wins per season, including back-to-back 26-win seasons in 2008 and 2009, and the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth in 2009.
 
At VCU, Cunningham coached three WNBA draft picks, two All-America selections, two Colonial Athletic Association Players of the Year and 18 all-conference selections.
 
During her playing days at Notre Dame (1993-97), Beth (Morgan) Cunningham was a trailblazer, leading the program to its first NCAA Women’s Final Four appearance and a 31-7 campaign 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.
 
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, are the proud parents of three daughters (Margaret, Carly and Gretchen) and one son (Danny).