Glendale forward Juwan Smith was healthy last...

Glendale forward Juwan Smith was healthy last week for the first time since spraining both of his ankles in December. It showed.

Smith, who started the week averaging 10.9 points a game, scored 53 points in two games as Western State Conference South Division play got under way.

The Vaqueros defeated West L. A., 72-68, Jan. 21, then lost to division-leading Santa Monica, 81-75, Saturday. “We noticed before the West L. A. game that he was moving as well on the court as we had seen him move all season,” Coach Brian Beauchemin said.

Shane Bright, Valley’s point guard import from Down Under, leads WSC players in assists. The 5-foot-9, 140-pound freshman from Vermont, Australia, is averaging 6.9 assists a game.

Valley forward Randy Brown was the leading rebounder in the WSC at the start of the week with a 12.3 average but, more impressively, 47.2% of his rebounds have been at the offensive end. Only Oxnard center Art Wallace has more offensive rebounds than Brown. Wallace had 189 rebounds in 23 games (8.2 average), 100 coming at the offensive end.

When Canyons loses to conference opponents, it doesn’t fool around. On Saturday, Canyons lost to visiting Valley, 88-67, and on Jan. 8 the Cougars were hammered by visiting Ventura, 93-67.

Cal State Northridge point guard Andre Chevalier, a sophomore from Cleveland High, has moved into fourth on the school’s career assist list with 203. Chevalier needs 33 assists in the Matadors’ remaining eight games to surpass Jack Dyck, who played from 1972-75, and move into third place.

“I think I can reach the No. 3 position if we continue to play well,” Chevalier said.

The record of 315 was set by Troy Dueker from 1984-88.

Chevalier is fifth in steals with 76. He needs 14 to overtake Ben Balke, who made 89 steals from 1979-83.

Derrick Gathers is the all-time leader in steals with 120 from 1988-90.

With eight assists against Wisconsin-Milwaukee Monday, senior forward Keith Gibbs moved into ninth on the Northridge career list with 151. Gibbs, who transferred to Northridge last season from West Valley College in Saratoga, Calif., is eighth in steals with 58.

Sophomore Northridge walk-on Brooklyn McLinn has moved into eighth place on the single-season three-point field goal list with 31. Kyle Kerlegan, the leader, had 98 last season.

Northridge continues to struggle at the free-throw line with a 65.7% average. Only two players, Chevalier (86.7%) and David Keeter (82.4%), are making more than 76% of their shots. Five players, including starters Shelton Boykin, Brian Kilian and McLinn are shooting below 60%.

The Northridge women’s basketball team ventured to Southern Utah last weekend looking for its first win of the season.

Two games later the Matadors could claim only their smallest margin of defeat (60-56) for their efforts. Northridge lost the second game, 71-63.

Part of the problem came at the free-throw line. Northridge attempted just 31 free throws in the two games, making 15. Southern Utah, by contrast, attempted more than twice as many (63) and made nearly three times as many (42).

Senior forward Shagarro Lattin totaled 23 points in the two games against Southern Utah to become the only Northridge player with a double-figure season scoring average (10.0). She also recorded a career-high 13 rebounds in the second game to increase her team-leading average to 5.9.