SLIPPERY ROCK — Now that Emma McDermott is signed, sealed and nearly delivered to Mercyhurst University, the senior on the Slippery Rock High girls basketball team is focusing on more pressing issues.

Like improving her already dangerous game.

Last season, McDermott — a lanky, 6-foot difference-maker with a wingspan wider than her head coach's height — averaged 13.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and nailed 61 3-pointers.

That was good enough for her to be named District 10 Region 5 girls basketball player of the year.

This season, McDermott is determined to make the most of her final games in red and gray.

“I did some speed and strength training,” McDermott said. “Right now, my shot is the strongest part of my game. What I am worried about, what I've tried so hard to get better at, is driving to the hoop more, taking it to the hoop strong.”

McDermott figures that will make her even more dangerous than she was a season ago when she helped the Rockets to the District 10 5A title.

McDermott had 13 games in which she scored 15 or more points.

But McDermott struggled at times in 2017-18 when opponents dogged her all over the court.

“(In practice) we have someone face-guarding her,” said Slippery Rock girls basketball coach Amber Osborn. “I stand there and ask her, 'What are you going to do about it?'

“She grits her teeth and whoever is in her way, she goes at them.”

It's that renewed determination that has honed McDermott's game more this offseason than in any other.

Always a sharp shooter, McDermott has increased her range on the perimeter, which in theory should add even more pressure on teams trying to defend her.

“She can shoot a normal shot from five, 10 feet behind the 3-point line,” Osborn said. “I told her if she's out there and open, shoot it. She's getting more and more range and that's going to make her a lot harder to guard.

“She's taking it to the hoop more and finishing strong.”

McDermott said she knew she was going to have to open up her game as teams try to take the 3-pointer away from her.

“A huge part of it is mentality,” McDermott said. “I have to find a way, other ways to score.”

McDermott has already found a way to overcome a devastating torn ACL in her right knee suffered during her sophomore season.

She bounced back strong last season and earned a spot at Mercyhurst University.

McDermott signed her letter of intent Nov. 19 after committing to the Lakers in August.

“It's definitely a relief,” McDermott said. “The recruiting process is a such a long process. Since middle school and through high school I just wanted to be good enough to play in college. And now that it's here, oh my gosh, it's definitely a reward for all the hard work.”

The hardest and most arduous work came in rehabbing her knee.

There were doubts, she said, that she'd ever get back to form.

“It fueled my fire even more,” McDermott said. “My thoughts were, 'Oh, no. Is this going to put me behind? What's thing going to do to me?'

“Once I pushed all that negativity aside, I was OK. I used that to make myself a better player.”

Now that she is, McDermott has no expectations of what her role will be next season at Mercyhurst.

She's going to attack that season just as she's attacking this one.

“I'm going to work my butt off,” McDermott said. “I'm not going into it thinking, 'Oh, I can be the first off the bench' or something like that. I'm not going to limit myself. I'm going to work hard every single day.”