This is the 3200th most frequent Russian word.
направлялась
"Was heading" or "was directed toward."
In this sentence, 'направлялась' is used in the past tense, describing her action of heading toward a destination at a specific time or habitually.
Она направлялась на работу пешком.
She was heading to work on foot.
Here, 'направлялась' is used to indicate an action in progress at the moment of another past action.
Когда я её встретил, она как раз направлялась в магазин.
When I met her, she was just heading to the store.
In this instance, 'направлялся' conveys the idea of a planned or ongoing action in the past.