ALLEN IVERSON married his high-school sweetheart, the quintessential "nice girl."

You know the type: active in student government, voted most attractive, wore the latest fashions, never had a bad hair day, dated the star athlete.

The kind of girl other girls might hate - if only they didn't like her so much.

Now at 26, Tawanna Nicole Turner Iverson is a doting mother of two, married to an NBA superstar.

She has a fleet of luxury cars and calls a 15-room, $2.4 million mansion in exclusive Gladwyne home.

But in just a week, the woman who has always shunned the spotlight has become the subject of talk-radio banter. Word is that her high-school sweetheart bounced her out of her home butt naked and tried to hunt her down - perhaps even packing heat.

Suddenly, the girl with the fairy-tale life might not be the Cinderella who found her Prince Charming after all.

Her happily-ever-after ending might very well be on hold indefinitely, as her husband faces several felony charges - and maybe even jail time.

All this on the eve of the couple's first wedding anniversary next month. A time that should be happy might turn out particularly painful to Tawanna, who, unlike her controversial husband, always has avoided attention. So much so that the public wouldn't recognize the sound of her voice.

"She doesn't want the spotlight at all," said Larry Platt, who's working on a biography of Iverson.

Hardly anyone outside her close circle knows much about Tawanna, who began dating Iverson when they were both teen-agers. She rarely talks to the press. No reporter has gotten an interview with her lately - perhaps because the Iverson clan has closed ranks around the couple.

"She's just a nice person - that's not just because she married my nephew," said Jessie Iverson, Allen's aunt. "That's why she was the one who was chosen to marry him. She's a very beautiful person. She's part of our family."

And now, she's become the woman everyone wants to interview - even the police.

Last week, authorities were summoned after reports that Iverson, allegedly with a gun tucked in his waistband, barged into the West Philadelphia apartment of Shaun Bowman, his cousin, in a frantic search for his wife.

Bowman's roommate told a police dispatcher that he had "put her out the house naked," according to a 911 transcript. "It's like the third time he did it. And he said the next time he see (sic) her he was going to kill her..."

Yesterday, police searched the couple's house as well as the Center City apartment of Iverson's uncle, Greg Iverson, who reportedly was with the Sixers star during the alleged incident. Authorities also issued a warrant for Greg Iverson's arrest.

Meanwhile, those who know the Iversons say they are a study in contrasts.

"He's gregarious and outgoing. He's the free-spirit, the nonconformist," said Linwood "Butch" Harper, who lived next to Iverson in Hampton, Va.

"She's reserved. She's the leveler, the balance. She's the other side of the coin. But there's only one coin."

When she was in high school, Tawanna had a reputation for being self-assured, confident, a down-to-earth girl who also was tight-lipped about her love life.

Only her closest friends at Kecoughtan High School knew she was dating Iverson, who was a basketball and football star at nearby Bethel High School.

"To her, he was her boyfriend. It was no big deal," said Kevin Pritchard, a classmate who was friendly with her. "It wasn't like she bragged about it. She kept her private life very private."

Pritchard said Tawanna had a healthy self-esteem and wouldn't allow herself to be manipulated or berated.

"She's her own person, her own boss. She can take care of herself," he recalled. "When I got picked on in high school, she told me it was just people who didn't know what they were talking about.

"She told me to respect myself and not let it get to me," he added.

She's still like that.

The Rev. Jerome Barber, of Hampton, Va., who officiated at the couple's wedding nearly a year ago, noticed it.

"I saw a strength in her," said Barber, who counseled the couple the day before. "She knows who she is and where her place is and what her function is."

Barber also saw evidence of this when the couple posed for pictures after their 25-minute ceremony.

A makeup artist wanted to adjust her cosmetics a bit, but Tawanna wasn't having it.

Her response: "'Thank you for your help but this is what I want,' " he recalled. "Everybody said, 'OK' and backed away."

"She stands her ground," Barber added.

Judith Sills, a Philadelphia-based psychologist and a relationship-book author, said even strong, self-confident women can be victimized.

"The idea that this happens to people with low self-esteem has a blame-the-victim flavor, and I think that is generally incorrect," said Sills, who has never met Tawanna. "Regardless of how a woman sees herself, she can find herself in over her head."

But Tawanna's levelheaded. Even though she never needs to check price tags, she's known for turning up her nose at pricey items at Neiman Marcus.

When she set up her wedding registry, Tawanna picked Williams-Sonoma and Bloomingdale's, where she selected simple items such as a $10 meat tenderizer and spaghetti tongs. Even her wedding gown was simple - a cream-colored, strapless number purchased from the upscale Suky Rosan boutique.

"She's a sweet, quiet person," said Rosan, owner of the Ardmore boutique.

As in high school, Tawanna's still not the type to throw her man's name around - even when it might mean star treatment.

"She was hesitant about telling me who he was because he was well-known," recalled Sylvia Weinstock, the renowned New York City baker who created a five-tier cake for the Iversons' wedding. "She was reluctant to play off his name."

Unlike her flashy mother-in-law, Ann Iverson, who wants everyone to know who her son is. During Sixers games, Ann dances, anoints seats with holy oil, talks to seemingly any reporter and brandishes signs that say, "That's my boy #3."

Tawanna sits demurely in the stands. Even when Iverson emerges postgame to meet the press, often with his young son, Allen II ("Deuce" to his dad), by his side, Tawanna hangs back, politely declining reporters' attempts to interview her.

Before this latest drama, Tawanna was a low-key fixture in the neighborhood, much like other well-to-do wives, driving Deuce, 4, and Tiaura, 7, to their private schools.

"She's never been showy or brassy," said a neighbor, who requested anonymity. "She seems friendly and nice. She always waves."

The children play in the massive front yard, protected by the fence. Tawanna keeps watch, as she did earlier this week while a horde of media camped just outside the gate.

"She's very protective of them. She doesn't let them up by the street," the neighbor said.

"They have friends and family over a lot...But they're very private. They don't really talk to anyone else."

Until now, Tawanna treasured her memories of their years together in an old album, storing reams of faded news clippings and photos.

One special picture is of their magical prom night with Iverson sporting a high-top fade haircut.

The stories inside chronicle his rocky rise to fame.

Beginning today, Tawanna may need a whole new scrapbook