SYRACUSE, N.Y. – When Syracuse women’s basketball coach Quentin Hillsman entered the Carrier Dome late Wednesday morning, a horde of media awaited. He wasn’t surprised.

The Orange’s humbling 54-point loss to top-ranked Connecticut on Saturday was mostly forgotten. The aftermath, however, still lingered.

Not only had UConn coach Geno Auriemma left his starters in for most of the Huskies’ 107-53 victory, he also had words with Syracuse’s Nicole Michael in the handshake line afterward. Auriemma was pulled away from the junior forward by assistant coach Shea Ralph, but when Auriemma went back through the line to leave the court, Michael appeared to extend her right foot in his direction and he tripped. He was then led away by his players.

“It’s one of those things where you have a hard-fought game and you’re walking through lines and things kind of get heated,” Hillsman said. “I don’t want to play the blame game. I’m just excited that it’s over, that we can move on. It was an incident that was unfortunate. We all wish that it wouldn’t have happened.”

Auriemma also received a technical foul for screaming about Syracuse’s physical play with just over 6 minutes left and his team up 56 points.

Hillsman simply smiled at that.

“Our games are going to be physical,” he said. “We just play hard and compete. I feel good about what we do as a program. If people are going to have a problem with us coming out and saying that we want to win every game, they’re going to have a problem with me from here on.”

Hillsman said he didn’t question Michael’s interpretation of what happened.

“She felt she didn’t do anything inappropriate,” he said. “Once she said that, I let it go.”

Michael was elated just to be back on the court.

“I get to play. I’m happy,” she said. “It’s been distracting, but I have to keep my head up and keep working hard. I’m sure it will light a fire under my feet, for me to play harder and stronger.”

Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese issued a statement Tuesday saying both schools’ athletic directors had assured him there would be no repeat of the incident, and both said they were committed to the league’s principles of sportsmanship. UConn spokesman Randy Press said on Tuesday that Auriemma was aware the conference had reviewed the incident and would not comment on it further.

Hillsman is midway through his third season as Syracuse head coach, and after a remarkable season a year ago, things haven’t gone as well as many might have expected. In 2007-08 Hillsman orchestrated a dramatic turnaround in a program that had been a perennial loser. Syracuse went from 9-20 and 3-13 in the Big East in his rookie season to 22-9 and 10-6 in the conference, the second-best turnaround in the nation.

The Orange won a school-record 12 games in a row, achieved the program’s first national ranking, beat No. 14 West Virginia 73-51 in the season finale, and made the NCAA tournament for only the fourth time.

Hillsman shared Big East coach of the year honors with Auriemma, but the Syracuse postseason was forgettable. The Orange suffered a first-round loss to South Florida in the Big East tournament and was upset by Hartford in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Entering Saturday’s game against No. 25 Pittsburgh, Syracuse is 13-5 overall but only 2-3 in the conference and has been pretty much an afterthought nationally since a one-point loss to Division II Alaska Anchorage in November. Not even seven straight wins, including a comeback win over Rutgers, has helped.

“There’s no question that loss hurt,” Hillsman said. “It obviously affects the perception, and rightfully so. I can’t blame them. You lose to a Division II team, it puts a different light on your program and your season. I have no ill will about that. I think that’s fair and accurate. I didn’t know how much it would affect it, but when you win seven in a row and you get no votes, then you kind of know where you stand.”

Hillsman knew before the season that an encore would be difficult because his team is so young with freshmen Tyler Ash, Troya Berry Lynnae Lampkins, and redshirt freshman Chanieka Williams.

“It’s been tough,” Hillsman said. “For us to be the kind of program that can compete at a high level, they (the freshmen) have to come in and really do a job of raising the level. At times, they’ve maintained it, and at times they haven’t been very good coming off the bench.”

Hillsman said he didn’t think the lopsided loss to Connecticut would damage his team, especially after noting the Huskies’ next game was a 30-point win Tuesday night at No. 2 North Carolina.

“You can look at positives. I don’t think we can play much harder than we played,” he said. “Hopefully, we can come away from this learning that, to be at that level, now you know what you have to do. But to beat the No. 2 team in the country by 30 is scary. They could almost run the table.”