MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — The Bowdoin College women’s swimming and diving team earned its best-ever finish at the New England Small College Athletic Championship this weekend, claiming fifth-place overall.

On the heels of the program’s successful finish, head coach Brad Burnham was named the NESCAC Women’s Swimming & Diving Coach of the Year.

The Polar Bears racked up a program best 932.5 points at the championship, trailing only Williams (2,103), Bates (1,345), Middlebury (1,203) and Amherst (1,042).

Bowdoin saved its best finish of the three-day event for last, as the 400-freestyle relay team of Mariah Rawding, Bridget Killian, Lela Garner and Sophia Walker took second-place overall, shattering the school record in a time of 3:28.64.

Rawding led the way for the Polar Bears individually, earning three top-four finishes over the weekend. Her top race was the 200 breaststroke, where she earned third in a time of 2:20.52. She took fourth in both the 50 breaststroke (29.90) and 100 breaststroke (1:04.59), all establishing school records.

Other top showings for the Polar Bears included a trio of fourthplace finishes, including Teri Faller in the 50 backstroke (26.92), Walker in the 50 free (24.12) and Caroline Watt in the 1,650 free (17:18.20), each breaking previous school records.

In addition to the 400-relay free team, Bowdoin also had strong showings in the 200 free relay (4th, 1:36.85; Rawding, Killian, Patty Boyer and Walker) and the 400 medley relay (4th, 3:54.18; Faller, Rawding, Kate Kronick, Walker).

The Polar Bear men’s team will have its turn at NESCAC’s this upcoming weekend as they travel to Middlebury for the three-day competition beginning on Friday.

Women’s basketball

Tufts claimed the top seed for the upcoming NESCAC Tournament with a 66-55 win over Bowdoin in both team’s regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.

The fifth-ranked Jumbos improved to 23-1 (10-0 NESCAC) and earned the right to host throughout the conference tourney. Meanwhile, 18th-ranked Bowdoin saw its 18-game winning streak come to a close, falling to 21- 3 (9-1 NESCAC) and settling for the No. 2 seed in the league.

Bowdoin will host No. 7 Middlebury on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Morrell Gymnasium in the NESCAC quarterfinals.

In the loss, Bowdoin senior Sara Binkhorst led all players with 23 points to become the 14th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points. For the second straight day she was outstanding from 3-point range, knocking down all five attempts from beyond the arc. Shannon Brady added 12 points and five rebounds for the Polar Bears.

Hayley Kanner led four Jumbos in double digits with 17 points.

The first half featured back-andforth play, but Tufts used a quick 5- 0 spurt before the break to take a 10-point lead, 34-24, into halftime.

The Jumbos took command early in the second half, using a 13- 2 run out of the gate to extend their lead to 47-26 with 16 minutes remaining.

The Polar Bears battled back, but failed to cut the lead back into single digits for the remainder of the contest.

On Friday at Lewiston, Binkhorst set a school record with seven 3-pointers as the Polar Bears held off Bates, 74-67, at Alumni Gymnasium.

Bates fell to 9-14 overall, 0-9 in NESCAC play.

Binkhorst led Bowdoin with 29 points, while Brady added 15 points and eight boards.

Bates freshman and former Freeport High Schools standout Nina Davenport tallied a gamehigh 34 points in the loss.

Women’s hockey

Hamilton used a pair of goals to shut out host Bowdoin in the Polar Bears’ final regular season home game at Sidney J. Watson Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Continentals picked up their third conference win of the season and improved to 9-9-4 (3-8-3 NESCAC). The Polar Bears fell to 9- 8-5 with a 5-6-3 mark in NESCAC play.

In a repeat of Friday’s first period, the Continentals and Polar Bears skated through 20 minutes of scoreless hockey. Both teams looked to score in the first, with the Polar Bears unable to capitalize on several breakaway chances. Jessica Bowen and Julie Dachille each looked to move the scoreboard, but Bowen buried the puck in Sam Walther’s pads and Dachille went sliding to the boards.

Hamilton’s Mairead Carey ripped a shot through traffic from just inside the blueline that hit Lan Crofton in the numbers to keep the game scoreless with 10 seconds to play.

After Bowdoin controlled the first 10 minutes of the second period, Hamilton broke out of its own zone, skating down the ice into a two-on-one. Megan Fitzgerald collected the puck from Sara Taffe, who chipped it out of the Continentals’ defensive zone and skated down the right side before burying a wrister in the tip right corner of Bowdoin’s net.

The Continentals doubled their lead 3:40 into the final period off a goal from Teal Gosselin. Coming in on the left side, Gosselin slid the puck towards Crofton and watched her shot deflect into the net for the 2-0 advantage.

Crofton ended the game with 11 saves before giving way to Beth Findley, who made five saves in 13:09 of play. Walther stopped 25 shots to earn the shutout.

On Friday at Watson Arena, Bowdoin and Hamilton played to a 1-1 stalemate.

After a scoreless first, the Polar Bears scored on a power play as Bridget Bergin slid a pass to Maddie Baird at the left point. Baird fed Dachille, who spun and shot the puck past Walther for a 1-0 lead.

Hamilton tied the game early in the third period on a Steph DiPietro goal.

Crofton, who had 17 saves, made game-saving stop in overtime.

Walther had 21 stops for Hamilton.

Bowdoin travels to Amherst on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday to close out the regular season.

Men’s hockey

Bowdoin bounced back from a loss to Trinity for a 3-1 NESCAC win over Wesleyan on Saturday.

The Polar Bears improved to 13- 6-3 (7-6-3 NESCAC), while the Cardinals fell to 3-19, 2-14 NESCAC.

Camil Blanchet scored just 2:39 into the game, giving Bowdoin the 1-0 lead, burying a rebound off the goalie’s pads. Matt Rubinoff and Daniel McCullan got the assists were credited with helpers on the goal.

The lead grew to two goals at 11:16 of the second stanza as the Polar Bears scored 50 seconds into a power-play opportunity. John McGinnis upped his seasonal point total to 21 with his ninth marker of the year, taking a cross and putting it home from the slot.

The Cardinals narrowed the gap to 2-1 at 9:06 of the third period behind a goal from Jordan Jancze’s, who deflected a shot by Alex Carlacci through the legs of goalie Peter Cronin.

Bowdoin added an insurance goal off the stick of Zach Kokosa as his hard shot from the inside edge of the right circle beat Dawson Sprigings high to the glove side at 12:48.

Cronin ended the game with 16 saves. Dawson was credited with 40 stops in net for Wesleyan.

On Friday, Trinity captured a hard-fought 5-4 win over Bowdoin in Hartford, Conn.

In a game that saw six lead changes, the Bantams (18-2-1, 13-1-1 NESCAC) had the final say as Jackson Brewer bested Polar Bears goaltender Max Fenkell (35 saves) midway through the third period.

Bowdoin (12-6-3, 6-6-3 NESCAC) received goals from Ryan Collier, McGinnis, Matthew Melanson and Tim Coffey.

The Polar Bears host Connecticut College on Friday at 7 p.m.

Indoor track

Bowdoin enjoyed several strong showings at one of the most competitive meets of the winter, the 2015 Dave Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University this past weekend.

In a field packed with Division I competitors and club athletes, Bowdoin’s Erin Silva led the way for the Polar Bears with another school record and second-place finish in the women’s pole vault, clearing a height of 12-09.50.

Katharine Krupp also had a strong finish for Bowdoin, taking 19th in the triple jump at 37-00.

In the men’s meet, Brian Genco earned the best finish for Bowdoin with a 45-07 distance in the triple jump to take 14th. Chris Genco earned a 17th-place distance in the long jump (21-06) in a solid day for the Bowdoin jumpers.

On the track, Latif Armiyaw finished 31st in the 60-meter dash (7.17), while Jacob Ellis posted a 1:54.50 in the 800 to take 35th.

The Polar Bears will return to action this weekend as they compete at the New England D-III Championship hosted by Springfield College.