NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The sixth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores get to play for their third Southeastern Conference tournament title since 1993, and they couldn't be more relieved.

Zuzi Klimesova hit two free throws with 6.2 seconds left as Vanderbilt held off Arkansas 81-78 Saturday night in the SEC tournament semifinals. The Commodores nearly blew a 22-point lead as Shameka Christon rallied Arkansas with a career-high 40 points.

"At the end of the game, we had more points than they did," Vanderbilt coach Jim Foster. "That's a nice feeling."

The win puts the Commodores (26-6) into the championship game for a second straight year. They will play Louisiana State, an upset winner over No. 3 Tennessee 81-80, in the finals Sunday night a mile away from their home gym in a bid for their first SEC tournament title since 1995 and third overall.

Foster, who picked up the 500th victory of his coaching career, said it wasn't a matter of his Commodores playing that bad.

"I'd be more inclined to think that kid just had an unbelievable night," Foster said.

Seventh-seeded Arkansas (19-11) came into the semifinals having won nine of its last 11. The Lady Razorbacks were playing their third game in as many days, but Christon didn't make it easy with the second-best scoring performance in SEC tournament history behind only La'Toya Thomas' 44 points for Mississippi State last year.

Christon's 28 points in the second-half was a school record.

"What was going through my head? Get me the ball down low," Christon said. "That was what was working for me to be honest with you. Ask all my coaches. The post, the five-spot is Greek to me. I hate it. I hated it. But that's what's working at that time, and that's what I really wanted."

Arkansas used a 23-9 run to rally from a 22-point deficit with Christon leading the way. She scored 11 of those in a span of 2:22, and Kiesha Beard hit two free throws with 22.1 left to make it 79-78.

Christon tried to give Arkansas its first lead by driving to the basket, but she charged into Jenni Benningfield with 9.4 seconds left. Klimesova hit her free throws, and India Lewis' desperation 3-pointer bounced off the backboard and the front of the rim. Vanderbilt got the rebound and ran out the final seconds.

Klimesova finished with 21 points for Vanderbilt. Ashley Earley added 15 off the bench, Chantelle Anderson had 14, well below her average of 20 per game, and Jillian Danker 12. Anderson played just 26 minutes as she struggled.

"Good players have bad nights and come back the next night," Anderson said. "I'm glad we get to play tomorrow."

Vanderbilt avenged a 67-57 loss to Arkansas in Fayetteville on Jan. 31, the Commodores' only loss to an unranked team this season.

The Lady Razorbacks did what they wanted in forcing 13 turnovers compared to four of their own. But the Commodores dominated the boards 38-20.

Anderson, the SEC's player of the year, got Vandy started by scoring the first basket of the game. Amy Wright tied it at 2, but that was as close as the Lady Razorbacks would get as the Commodores led 44-26 at halftime.

"We didn't leave it in the dressing room at halftime," Arkansas coach Gary Blair said. "We didn't go in there and chew anything out. We looked in the mirror, saw the problem was us. Looked in the dressing room next door and saw the reason we were behind was because Vanderbilt was playing tremendous basketball."

"They showed why they're a top 10 team and have a great chance to get to the Final Four this year."

The Commodores looked like they were going to blow out Arkansas as they built a 22-point lead in the second half, going up 52-30 on a free throw by Ashley Earley. That's when Dana Cherry got the Lady Razorbacks' going on their run to get back into the game.

Cherry finished with 11 points for Arkansas.