Big wins mark Eagles' basketball success

Waking up on their respective Christmas mornings, both Eastern Washington men’s and women’s basketball coaches — Jim Hayford and Wendy Schuller — may have had some extra gifts for which to be thankful.

For Hayford it might have been not having to spend the holiday in a New York City hotel while in the midst of a road trip to Seton Hall and the University of Connecticut, as he was in 2013..

“This year I had a couple of days with my family so it was a lot better,” Hayford said.

So is the lead in to conference play as last year at this time the Eagles were 4-6 and losers of four straight.

After t...