VERMILLION, S.D. -- Shannon Daly, a former standout guard on The University of South Dakota women’s basketball team, has signed to play professionally for a team in Sweden.

Daly will play for the Umea Comets and will leave for Sweden on Friday, Oct. 3 and begin practicing immediately after arriving.

Umea will play 12 games with the regular season going through March of 2009. The postseason for the league is set for April.

“It’s definitely a dream of mine being fulfilled,” Daly said of playing professionally. “It’s been a desire of mine since I was little.”

Daly played a crucial role in the Coyotes’ run to the NCAA Division II National Championship game in 2007-08. Daly averaged 8.3 points per game but also added 2.4 assists and 1.7 rebounds per contest. Daly hit 53-of-64 free throw attempts (82.8 percent). She also added 50 steals.

Daly, a native of Groton, S.D., scored a career-high 21 points in the Coyotes’ 61-49 win over Minnesota State, Mankato in the North Central Region Championship game on March 17. Daly was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Regional Tournament.

The 2007-08 Coyote team set a record for wins (33) and also reached its first-ever national championship game.

“We had an awesome year last year,” Daly said.

In her two-year Coyote career, Daly averaged 8.7 points and 2.9 assists per game. She also finished her Coyote career with 96 steals. In her overall collegiate career, which included two years at Southwest Minnesota State, Daly averaged 6.7 points and 2.5 assists per game. She started 89 games in her collegiate career, including all 66 at USD.

Daly is the second former Coyote to sign with a professional team in Europe. Earlier this fall, Jeana Hoffman (Mitchell, S.D.) signed to play with a pro team in Holland.