Complex sentence: Lyons, who was the only woman at the station besides the switchboard operator, pressed into service on short notice, needed only a couple of minutes to become familiar behind the mic, and ended up taking over as host.
Split into simpler sentences: Lyons, who was the only woman at the station besides the switchboard operator, was pressed into service on short notice. She needed only a couple of minutes to become familiar behind the microphone, and she ended up taking over as host.