NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Winning, not style points, is what matters in the postseason. Just ask the sixth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores.

Chantelle Anderson scored 16 points as Vanderbilt beat Auburn 55-39 on Friday night in the Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinals.

They reached the semifinals for the fourth time in five years and will play seventh-seeded Arkansas, a 79-61 upset winner over No. 2 seed South Carolina, on Saturday night.

"It's always nice to win in your first game," Anderson said. "We don't want to be one of the teams that got upset. There's been a couple upsets, and we didn't want to be one of those. It's nice to be playing tomorrow."

It wasn't the prettiest of victories as the Commodores (25-6) scored only six points over nine of the final 10 minutes and finished with 17 turnovers compared to nine for Auburn. They shot 54 percent from the floor in the first half but only 8-of-29 in the second.

Vanderbilt coach Jim Foster wasn't worried.

"We played a lot of players, probably took a few more outside shots than we should've, and I think that through the course of the year we've been a pretty good offensive team," Foster said. "We had some strange combinations on the floor."

Auburn (16-13) hoped to revive some of the magic from 1997 when the Tigers became the only SEC team to play on all four days and win the tournament. But this team had won only three league games this season and came in as the No. 11 seed.

Auburn coach Joe Ciampi had his hand over part of his face at the end as Vanderbilt beat his team for the second time in six days. It was the lowest output of the season for the Tigers, whose previous worst was 49 points in a loss to Georgia on Jan. 17.

Ciampi called the Commodores probably the best defensive team the Tigers had faced this season.

"They disrupt everything we want to do in terms of securing high-percentage shots. They keep us off the boards rebounding, and they just do an outstanding job of just throwing your offense into a shambles really," he said.

It didn't help that Vandy concentrated on shutting down Le'Coe Willingham, who had a team-high 13 points.

"We have a great deal of respect for Willingham," Foster said. "We think she's a terrific player, and I thought we did a much better job of limiting her looks today, and our effort today was much more on the defensive end."

The Commodores scored eight of the first 10 points and led 15-4 midway through the half. Vandy led 32-17 at the break and by as many as 23 points in the second half.

Jenni Benningfield added 11 points for Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt dominated all around, outshooting the Tigers 54 percent to 25 percent in the first half and outrebounding Auburn 47-24.

Auburn hit just two of its first 13 shots and just 5-of-20 in the first half. The Tigers didn't reach double figures until Carol Smith hit a pair of free throws to make it 24-10 with 5:01 left.

"They gave us some outside shots," Willingham said. "We had to knock them down. Tonight offensively we just weren't in a flow."