MINNEAPOLIS — The two highest scoring teams in the WNBA are set to meet at Target Center on Sunday when the Minnesota Lynx play host to the Indiana Fever.

It will be the first regular-season meeting between Lynx sensational rookie Olivia Miles and Fever star Caitlin Clark.

But it also will be the third consecutive Fever road game at which activists plan to gather at the arena to support Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham’s stance on keeping transgender athletes out of women’s sports.

Small rallies have been organized at Fever games in Seattle on Tuesday and in Portland on Friday since Cunningham was quoted July 21 in an ESPN story saying, “I want to protect young girls in a locker room. Or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve spoke at length following the team’s practice on Saturday and called for level-headed conversations about the issue.

“I come from a space of inclusion and the narrative that I think that is problematic is to suggest that, number one, that transgender athletes are the biggest problem in women’s sports,” Reeve said. “And I think this is what’s bothersome is that there’s a faction of people in our country that are making this a massive issue.”

She added: “We need to protect trans kids. Every kid. To me, it’s a human rights issue. Every kid has a right to sports, regardless of gender-diverse, transgender. Every kid has the right to access. What gets nuanced is, you know, when you’re beyond puberty. When you’re in an Olympic sport. When you have scholarships at stake and that sort of thing. That’s where I say that common sense people get together, and you find common ground to find a way to be inclusive.”

She also criticized “the innuendo there that, somehow, transgender women are predators of some kind in the locker room.”

When the Fever defeated Seattle on Tuesday, the Cunningham effect was felt in the crowd. Storm minority co-owner Celeste Keaton saw two girls holding a sign that read, “Thank you Sophie for speaking up for girls,” and directed expletives at them. They were wearing T-shirts from XX-XY Athletics, an organization that advocates for sex-based eligibility rules in women’s sports. (The group is also planning an event outside Target Center on Sunday). The WNBA fined and suspended Keaton, and the team apologized.

Just like in Seattle, some Cunningham supporters gathered in front of the Moda Center on Friday prior to the Fever’s game against Portland. Inside, Cunningham was booed when she entered the game during the first quarter. Pink, blue and white transgender flags were visible around the arena.

Cunningham said that she isn’t concerned about support of her becoming a distraction.

“I think everyone who knows me personally, they know that I’m full of love,” Cunningham told reporters in Portland. “I’m bubbly. I love the people around me. I love basketball. I love inspiring the next generation and doing that in a positive light. And so that doesn’t even cross my mind. Doesn’t cross my teammates’ minds.

“And again, I’m here to play basketball, but I’m also here to be me, and I’m not gonna like shadow that or hide or, you know, dim my light just because maybe people don’t agree with that.”

Reeve reiterated that there are bigger issues facing women’s sports than this one.

“The issue isn’t as big as the issues that we have in women’s sports,” she said. “Whether it’s, you know, cisgender men that have held us down for years in spaces like being able to have access to facilities and uniforms in locker rooms. These young girls that are sitting at games with anti-trans signs, do they understand actually what the real problems are and how they’re being marginalized? We’re still not in a space where we have equality.”

The Lynx are popular in the LGBTQ community and Reeve was asked if their fans’ safe space was being threatened. She said, “I don’t think these demonstrators are not being peaceful,” adding that “everyone has a right to peacefully assemble, right?”

“I think Minnesota Lynx fans are some of the best fans in the WNBA, very diverse fans,” Reeve said. “It is my hope that we demonstrate leadership in this space. You can voice your opinion, have a strong opinion, but it’s a safe space for everyone, regardless of whether or not you agree.”

The Lynx added forward Chloe Bibby for the rest of the season, a move that was official Saturday. To make room on the roster, the Lynx waived Eliska Hamzova, who was on a seven-day contract.

Bibby, a 6-2 Australian, was on a developmental contract with the Chicago Sky. She averaged 5.5 points in four appearances.

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