2015 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship
The 2015 IIHF World Women's U18 Championships was the eighth World Women's U18 Championship. The top division tournament was played in Buffalo, United States, from 5 to 12 January 2015. Twenty nations played in three levels, with promotion and relegation for the top and bottom teams at each level.
The United States won their fourth title defeating Canada in overtime in the Gold medal game, with Jincy Dunne scoring on the power play. This was the eighth consecutive final between the two nations, evening their all-time records. The Bronze medal game was also a rematch from the previous year, this time the Russians defeated the Czechs earning their first ever medal at this level.
In Division I play the French earned their first ever promotion to the top level. They opened the tournament with a shootout win over Norway and won the rest of their games earning a trip to St. Catherines for 2016.
Format
The preliminary round is divided into two pools that placed the top four seeds into Group A, and the bottom four in Group B. The top two finishers in Group A advances directly to the semifinals, while the two remaining teams and the top two in Group B will play a quarterfinal round. The bottom two teams from Group B will play a relegation series to determine the one team that gets relegated.Preliminary round
All times are local.| Legend |
| Advances to the Semifinals |
| Advances to the Quarterfinals |
| Play in the Relegation Round |
Group A
Group B
Relegation series
The third and fourth placed team from Group B will play a best-of-three series to determine the relegated team.Final round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Fifth place game
Bronze medal game
Gold medal game
Final standings
| 4 | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 | |
| 8 |
| Relegated to the 2016 Division I |
Tournament awards
;Best players selected by the directorate| Best Goalkeeper |  Valeria Tarakanova |
| Best Defenseman |  Jincy Dunne |
| Best Forward |  Sarah Potomak |
Source:
;Media All Stars
| Goalkeeper | Valeria Tarakanova |
| Defenceman | Jincy Dunne |
| Defenceman | Micah Hart |
| Forward | Fanuza Kadirova |
| Forward | Sarah Potomak |
| Forward | Melissa Samoskevich |
| Most Valuable Player | Sarah Potomak |
Source:
Statistics
Scoring leaders
| Pos | Player | Country | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| 1 | Sarah Potomak | 5 | 5 | 4 | 9 | +8 | 4 | |
| 2 | Rebecca Gilmore | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | +4 | 6 | |
| 3 | Melissa Samoskevich | 5 | 6 | 2 | 8 | +6 | 6 | |
| 4 | Fanuza Kadirova | 6 | 5 | 3 | 8 | +5 | 0 | |
| 5 | Jincy Dunne | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +4 | 0 | |
| 6 | Élizabeth Giguère | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | +7 | 6 | |
| 6 | Anna Shokhina | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | +7 | 0 | |
| 8 | Anniina Kaitala | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +3 | 0 | |
| 9 | Sanni Hakala | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | +1 | 4 | |
| 9 | Alina Müller | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | – | 4 |
Source:
Goaltending leaders
| Pos | Player | Country | TOI | GA | GAA | Sv% | SO |
| 1 | Andrea Brändli | 310:00 | 8 | 1.55 | 94.94 | 1 | |
| 2 | Anni Keisala | 240:00 | 5 | 1.25 | 94.74 | 1 | |
| 3 | Kaitlin Burt | 225:51 | 4 | 1.06 | 92.31 | 0 | |
| 4 | Marlène Boissonnault | 245:51 | 7 | 1.71 | 91.95 | 0 | |
| 5 | Valeria Tarakanova | 328:02 | 15 | 2.74 | 91.85 | 0 |
Source: