Bianca Duran enters her first season as the eighth head softball coach in Missouri Western State University program history after being hired in July 2026.
Duran comes to Missouri Western following five successful seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division II Colorado State University Pueblo, where she guided the ThunderWolves to a 131-133 overall record and a 113-101 mark in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. Her teams reached the RMAC Tournament in each of the last three seasons, highlighted by a historic 2026 campaign that saw CSU Pueblo finish 40-18, capture its first RMAC Tournament championship since 2001 and earn the program's first NCAA South Central Regional appearance since 2009. The 40 victories were the program's most since 2001.
During her tenure at CSU Pueblo, Duran coached 16 All-RMAC selections, four all-region performers and one All-American.
Prior to leading the ThunderWolves, Duran served as the interim head coach at her alma mater, Louisiana Tech, during the 2021 season. She guided the Lady Techsters to a 22-30 overall record, a 10-10 Conference USA mark and a berth in the C-USA Tournament while mentoring three C-USA All-Freshman Team selections.
Duran previously spent four seasons (2016-20) as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech, helping the Lady Techsters capture the 2017 Conference USA Tournament championship, the 2019 Conference USA regular season and tournament titles, and NCAA Regional appearances in both 2017 and 2019. The 2019 squad won 45 games, the second-most in program history, and the coaching staff earned NFCA Mideast Region Co-Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
She began her collegiate coaching career in 2016 as an assistant coach at Stanislaus State.
As a student-athlete, Duran played two seasons at Louisiana Tech, earning NFCA First Team All-Mideast Region honors and Conference USA All-Tournament Team recognition as a senior. Before transferring to Louisiana Tech, she starred at Western Nebraska Community College, where she set multiple school records, including career home runs (40), single-season home runs (23), batting average (.545), hits (110), doubles (29) and pitching wins (36). She was named Region 9 Freshman of the Year before earning both Region 9 Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year honors as a sophomore.
A native of Westminster, Colorado, Duran earned her bachelor's degree from Louisiana Tech in 2015 and completed her master's degree in sports coaching from the University of Northern Colorado in 2021.
