Yes, you can use it informally (very informally) to refer to young women.
It is not terribly derogatory, but it is not a respectful way to refer to a female.
While it may have been used to refer to "sexy" ladies in the past, that usage is anachronistic now, it mostly just means "young girl" these days.
Some girls don't like it, but most of them don't care. Being a girl yourself, I can't imagine that anyone would take offense if you used it, but guys should probably be careful :)